My wife and I went to the opening of Date Night at the 19th street theater in Manhattan. The theater was packed with young couples on “date nights,” which my wife observed is because we are all DESPERATE for something funny!!! Well, Date Night delivered the goods – we both laughed a lot and found the film very enjoyable.

I am a big fan of Steve Carrell, but have always felt that the comedies he has been in tend to be lowest common denominator type stuff that pigeonholes him in a nerdy, straight man role that never really gives him a chance to shine.  My regard for him as an actor comes from his more serious work, particularly Dan in Real Life, a personal favorite of mine.  But in Date Night he finally gets some pretty decent material to work with. It’s not great material – some parts fell a bit flat for me – but it’s good enough to produce a lot of genuine laughs without falling back on too much “potty humor” and predictable site gags.

He also gets to work opposite the wildly popular Tina Fey.  She has never been my favorite comic actress, but I can definitely admit she is a step up from your average comedienne, and she and Carrell make a good comic pair.

It’s a good “date night” film when you need to laugh and indulge in some silly fun! I recommend it!