As extensive TV advertising has already made clear, Carell and Fey play Phil and Claire Foster, happy if bored married New Jerseyites with two midlevel careers, two kids, and a weekly ''date night'' at a local suburban eatery that's as predictable as an episode of The King of Queens. But when Phil seizes on the couples-therapy-approved notion of perking up their marriage with dinner at a Manhattan hot spot, the result of his thoughtful gesture is a case of mistaken identity that leads to a rendezvous with corrupt cops, mobsters, thieves, and — scariest of all — imperious restaurant maître d's. In the way of such adventures in wonderland, one close call turns into another, and husband and wife come to see each other in a new light: Phil's not the downtrodden wimp he appears to be on the surface; Claire's the Tina Fey-ish wry babe we've known she was from the start. Cool costars in small roles include William Fichtner as a sleazy DA, James Franco and Mila Kunis as a couple of grifters, Ray Liotta as a gangster (what else?!), and Mark Wahlberg, in a buff and funny homage to his shirtless Marky Mark days, as a handy, shadowy ''security expert.'' For kicks, Kristen Wiig and Mark Ruffalo have a tiny, pointed bit as divorcing Jerseyites. I'd love to see these two in their own his-and-hers caper, based on Hepburn and Tracy's Adam's Rib.
Meanwhile, in the way of such escapades, the action is broadly stupid — dully, routinely, smash-automobiles-up stupid, as Levy and screenwriter Josh Klausner attend to the needs of an imaginary audience segment. Who comes to a comedy starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey raring for a slapstick car chase in which Carell shrieks, ''Waaaaaa!''like he's Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone? There's no fear that Phil and Claire won't survive their dangerous night on the town. No worries, either, that their marriage won't be strenghtened by their own personal After Hours experience, during which the Fosters will learn that the grass is plenty green right where they are in New Jersey (a magical Garden State, indeed, in which Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester moonlights as a babysitter).
Date Night is a conservative comedy with mainstream values and easy-to-follow lessons. (Lesson one: Don't steal somebody else's reservation at a Manhattan hot spot!) But with Carell and Fey collaborating, the movie becomes far more interesting than its plot or structure. Phil is a kind, resourceful, appreciative husband and father. Plus, he's funny. Claire is a quick-witted, adaptable, perceptive wife and mother. Plus, she's funny. For this 21st-century Nick and Nora Charles, the flame is kept alive despite his nighttime anti-snore nose strip and her nighttime bite guard — thanks to a shared appreciation of the hilarity of nose strips and bite guards.
