Date Night (2010)

In a TV-comedy dream pairing come true on the big screen, funny guy Steve Carell and funny gal Tina Fey join forces in this madcap comedy. Perhaps an homage to the screwball comedies of yesteryear, Date Night has all the wit, action, and heart to please just about any willing viewer. It may not be an instant classic or live up to all the hype of its lead pair, but it’s got it where it counts.

Phil and Claire Foster (Carell and Fey) are in a bit of a rut. Married with children, approaching middle age (if not already there), and caught in a boring and repetitive suburban New Jersey routine, they are looking for a little excitement in life. When they go to a hip restaurant in New York City and steal a table from a no-show reservation, they get far more than they hoped for. In a case of mistaken identity, Phil and Claire find themselves running for their lives from gangsters and crooked cops.

It’s not so much the fact that mistaken identity comedies have been around forever that hurts this film. Rather, it’s the fact that two of the top funny people in the TV/movie business are in this film and the end result is not wall-to-wall funny. Yes, there are a lot of laughs to be had here but those laughs are not always the hearty belly-laughs that signify a great comedy. Carell and Fey are only working with the lines they’re given, so a fair amount of the blame needs to go to the scriptwriter for giving such moderately funny lines to such a dynamic duo. Still though, you would think that talented comedians would have tried a little ad-libbing to improve a scene or two.

Another attribute of the film that works both ways (good and bad) is the inclusion of so many colorful supporting characters. On one hand, it helps distract the audience from the fact that Carell and Fey aren’t being as funny as they ‘ought’ to be. Mark Wahlberg is hilarious as the shirtless security guy who repeatedly comes to the Fosters’ rescue. At the same time, it’s the kind of over-the-top stereotype character you aren’t surprised to see in a chase-comedy. A lot of the supporting roles are like this, which makes for some good initial laughs but the conceit wears out the longer you’re exposed to these folk.

What holds the film together is the likableness of the Fosters. Unless you’re deeply cynical towards middle-class, white suburban couples, it’s easy to root for them. They’re nice people who are just trying to keep life interesting- something most of us yearn for at some point in our own lives. It may help to be married, possibly with children too, to pick up some of the subtler quips and nuances. Young adults expecting something Hangover-esque will be disappointed but the rest of us will, at the very least, enjoy ourselves.

That’s the kind of movie Date Night is- one where you’re likely to enjoy yourself if nothing else. That’s certainly not a bad thing but it doesn’t make for a very memorable viewing experience. It’s a movie you wouldn’t mind tuning into if you come across it on the TV or, if you own it, one that you can pop in just about any time for a few easy laughs. While it would be nice for Hollywood to get back to making great films consistently, there’s also a need for more above-average comedies like this one.

RATING: 3.25 out of 5

Get Smart (2008)

There have been several attempts to rejuvenate the characters and comedy of the original Get Smart series starring Don Adams but none of the small-screen efforts ever worked out. Given Hollywood’s track record of butchering adaptations of classic TV shows, it came as little surprise that plenty of eyes rolled when this film was announced. Fortunately, the result isn’t the disastrous abomination fans of the show had feared.

After years of working as an information analyst for CONTROL, Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) is denied an agent position because he is too valuable behind a desk to risk in the field. When terrorist organization KAOS attacks CONTROL’s secret base, agent identities are exposed, thrusting Max into full agent activation overnight. He gets a new codename (Agent 86) and partners up with the lovely Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), while the former hotshot Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson) is forced into deskwork now that he is among the exposed.

Smart’s clumsiness generates plenty of chagrin for the no-nonsense 99 as they travel across the globe in an attempt to prevent KAOS from carrying out a nuclear attack on American soil. His attempts to be a suave secret agent blow up in his face but he proves himself a worthwhile addition to the force in the end. Along the way he and 99 face a number of physical and mental challenges that bring them closer as professional partners and then some.

Recently I have altered my approach to judging movies based on other materials. It’s my opinion that it is unfair to judge a film as an adaptation because that kind of comparison is usually loaded with bias. Sometimes you can’t help but compare films with their source material but it’s wise to do so only as a reference point. Get Smart retools a lot of its source material out of necessity. With a modern setting, there are fewer cute gadgets because most useful spy technology already exists in miniature form thanks to technological advancements. While this may not have hurt the rebooted James Bond films, it does take away from the humor of Get Smart because the show was always a spoof of TV spy dramas and the Bond flicks. Without all the silly gadgets, the film loses a little bit of ground to stand on.

The only other comparison I care to make is about the relationship between Smart and 99. On the show, 99 thought her partner was dreamy and they were already a couple. Then again, they were both also seasoned agents. The film is an origin story, so it makes sense for the pair to have to grow to like each other. Fans of the show might not like it but then again, if they tried to make it too much like the show, fans would complain about a lack of originality.

Given Get Smart’s roots as a spoof of the 60s spy craze, it’s a little jarring to see how serious the film gets at times. Agent 99’s stern outlook tends to neutralize Steve Carell’s goofiness early on, sucking some of the fun out of it. Carell hits his stride around halfway through the film and it makes sense for him not to eschew the cocky swagger of Don Adams. In retrospect, it’s refreshing to see Smart as an unconfident new agent. It seems to me, though, that Carell puts a little too much Michael Scott and 40 Year Old Virgin into this new incarnation of Maxwell Smart.

Despite her character’s killjoy attitude through much of the film, major props go out to Anne Hathaway for her performance. She produces a solid blend of sex appeal and toughness befitting of a modern female special agent. While stunt performers were certainly involved, Hathaway looks like she belongs in all of her action scenes. She nails all of her hand-to-hand combat moves and, most importantly, looks like she is willing to kill the bad guys. She’s not just a pretty face maneuvered through blocky choreography. If nothing else, this should give moviegoers a little more confidence in her ability to play Catwoman in next year’s The Dark Knight Rises.

Despite solid performances by its leads, Get Smart does suffer one fatal flaw: its resolution is far too predictable. Even if they weren’t trying to keep it a secret, the identity of the mole can be reasoned out even before the film’s midway point. If you take the mystery out of a spy comedy, you’re only left with the comedy, which is too often stifled here.

There’s a reason why Get Smart worked as a TV show in the 60s. It was a time when audiences sought escapist entertainment to take their minds off of the gloomy world they lived in. That kind of escapism isn’t in vogue anymore and much of it seems silly when we look back on it now. That is why the Austin Powers films were so successful- they were a tongue-in-cheek spoof and homage to 60s spy entertainment that went beyond Get Smart’s clean humor. Had Austin Powers not made it to the big screen, a Get Smart movie might have been more warmly welcomed. Instead, it feels like a last-minute responder to an already full party.

RATING: 2.75 out of 5

Dan in Real Life (2007)

This was a date movie for me. I took my fiancée out to dinner and a movie and this was the only remotely decent thing playing that we could agree upon. I’m very glad we did because this film is charming and really showcases Steve Carell’s versatility as an actor.

Dan in Real Life got more favorable reviews than it did negative ones, but it wasn’t garnering the kind of positive buzz that builds anticipation for a film in the minds of the masses. The film did have appeal from wildly different demographics because of its star, Steve Carell. When Dan in Real Life hit theaters Carell was still a big draw for young audiences because of his work on The 40 Year Old Virgin, Anchorman and The Daily Show. Older audiences and some bleed-over from the youthful demographic know and like Carell from his performance on The Office and Little Miss Sunshine.

It’s rare to get this kind of catch-all appeal but it worked for Dan in Real Life (to some extent). Its main competition on the weekend was the youth-magnet Saw IV and the next weekend would see the launch of the much-hyped American Gangster and the Jerry Seinfeld vehicle Bee Movie. The odds were certainly stacked against it but it persevered.

I don’t know what critics and moviegoers failed to see in this film, because I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can see how some viewers and critics felt like the story was something out of a sitcom, but it all works because the story couldn’t be stretched into a TV show. I think the reason people took issue with it is because it doesn’t fit a specific comedy mold. It’s part romantic comedy, it’s part straight comedy, it has a few slapstick elements, some black humor and plenty of tongue-in-cheek wit. This causes Dan in Real Life to not fit any comfortable genre classification that people ultimately try to associate a film with.

I like films like this- the ones that are virtually unlike anything that has come before it. It’s unique and stands out in my mind. The uniqueness of the film comes from many different factors. Not only is the story good, but the writing and acting all heap goodness upon goodness.

Steve Carell stars as Dan, an advice columnist on the verge of national syndication. Every week people rely on his advice to clean up the messes in their lives. Ironically, his life is full of quirks and messes that he struggles with: he’s a middle-aged widower with three daughters (two of them teenagers) that he doesn’t completely understand. He and the girls head off to a family gathering, where we meet even more eccentric but endearing relatives.

Dan is set to fetch the morning paper in town, where he meets a lovely woman named Marie, played by Juliette Binoche. Dan and Marie awkwardly flirt, both realizing how silly it must seem to see middle-aged adults flirting like children without trying to be too obvious. It’s cute and appreciable. There’s a real emotional honesty in these scenes, as well as the rest of the film, that most romantic comedies fail to capture. Instead of absurd yucks, Dan in Real Life aims for heartwarming chuckles and it succeeds.

Marie and Dan say goodbye and she departs after receiving a phone call from her boyfriend. Dan feels a little bummed, buys the paper and heads back to his parents’ house. He returns only to find Marie fraternizing with his family. Turns out Marie is going out with Dan’s brother, played by Dane Cook. More humor and awkwardness ensues as the two try and work everything out over the course of the weekend.

Carell and Binoche really convey an honesty in their performances that is hard to come by. Despite the seemingly unlikely setup, they really make you feel like everything is real. Technically, it is all very possible, but they made it feel like it was never not possible that this all could happen. It just feels so genuine that it’s hard for me to explain.

And I think that genuine quality explains why its success was so limited. The theater I saw this film at was packed. Half the crowd was young teenagers and half were adults. The kids must have been disappointed because they didn’t laugh very often. Perhaps they thought this would be another 40 Year Old Virgin. The older crowd, myself included (I guess), had a good time. Most of the younger crowd probably told their friends not to bother seeing it because it wasn’t as good as Carell’s crude humor flicks. Older viewers may have recommended it to friends, but we adults are stingy about what we spend money on, so most are probably waiting for it to come out on video.

The disappointed young folk are wrong though. This is one of Carell’s best films to date and easily his best leading role. He excels at being normal- Dan is honest, sensible and vulnerable. Carell really shows his acting chops here because, while we already know he can make us roll with laughter, he invokes laughter from everyday absurdities and also works the audience’s emotional side. For a funny man to make you tear up is truly a beautiful thing.

The rest of the cast is spot-on in their performances. Dane Cook, who I normally can’t stand, is surprisingly normal, tolerable and effective as Dan’s brother. The daughters bring their characters to life and are wonderfully realistic. Every character builds in just the right places to make this film work.

It may be hard to tell from my rambling review, but I really, really liked Dan in Real Life. It’s emotional honesty and subtle humor goes a long way and is a refreshing change of pace from the typical Hollywood comedies. It’s a testament to Steve Carell’s abilities and I hope he goes far in his career. I highly recommend that you check this one out.

RATING: 3.75 out of 5

Little Miss Sunshine* (2006)

Quite possibly the most charming film I’ve seen since Big Fish, and that’s saying something. Let me warn you though, this film is incredibly vulgar, filled with cursing and references to all kinds of stuff kids don’t need to see. While the plot reads like a standard family road trip comedy, Little Miss Sunshine is brutally honest in its portrayal as to how screwed up people can be.

A family puts all their effort into making sure little Olive gets to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant, because it is her biggest dream to do so. Then comes the quirkiness. Olive’s parents are strapped for money and fight a good bit. Her mom is neurotic and over-worked, while her dad is a failure at trying to sell his motivational self-help series. Her brother is a Nietzsche reading artsy-fartsy type who has taken a vow of silence until he achieves his goal of becoming a jet pilot. Grandpa just got kicked out of the old folks home for snorting heroin and manages to fill in those silent moments with a barrage of obscenities. Finally, there’s Uncle Frank- a gay Proust scholar who recently botched a suicide attempt after learning that his ex-boyfriend is now dating the guy that beat him out for a prestigious grant.

After discovering that Olive has gotten a chance to compete in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant the family loads up into a rickety VW Bus and heads off on a journey you’ll never forget. No matter how hard you may try.

Some liken it to National Lampoon’s Vacation, except that Sunshine is darker and presents plenty more obstacles in the family’s way before they can get where they’re going both literally (the pageant) and as a family. It seems to me that the graveness of some of the things they encounter provides the balance that many family road trip films lack. Sure, there are plenty of clichéd, been-there-done-that scenarios, but Little Miss Sunshine doesn’t give in to the sappiness of those clichés. Instead, they bludgeon them to death with the right mix of dead-pan humor, bleakness and obscenity to elevate those clichés to a new level of comedy.

There are plenty of laughs in this film. The complete and utter lack of rationality in some of the choices that are made are so absurd that you can’t help but laugh. Then there are the inappropriate laughs, which you know shouldn’t be funny but are anyway. That’s the real secret to this film’s formula of success. Portraying situations that would be treated as a somber moment in other family trip films, effectively killing the humor for a moment of sap, but then throwing compounding amounts of absurdity on top of it to break the norm.

Raunchy, obscene good fun abounds in this film but the cursing is a bit too casual, which held Little Miss Sunshine back in my ratings scale. If the vulgarity had been toned down just a smidge, I might have supported this film for Best Picture at the Oscars. While it is certainly an excellent movie and one of the best of the year, I hesitate to declare it THE best of the year.

Definitely watch this film. It’ll warm your heart and warp your mind.

RATING: 3.75 out of 5

The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)

Let it be said, I really don’t like “unrated” versions of films. All “unrated” means is an excuse for the filmmakers to throw all the excessive cursing and nudity back into the film that common sense told them cut out for the theatrical release. It doesn’t make the film any better. In fact, it often times makes it worse. This film is a prime example.

The concept of The 40 Year Old Virgin is actually pretty good. Steve Carell proves he is a comedic force to be reckoned with, without going over-the-top slapstick goofy on us. His character is not just an overblown comedic character, but an amalgamation of several real-world neurotic quirks that are genuinely funny.

All the extra nudity and swearing reverts us back into overblown comedy though.

There wasn’t a “rated” version of this film accessible to me when I watched this and I’m not sure if one exists. It seems any crude humor now demands an unrated-only version DVD release. Like I said, the story is genuinely good and I would have enjoyed it better if the cursing and crude factor were toned down a bit. If anyone has a “rated” version of the film, I’d more than likely re-watch it to see how the movie really was.

RATING: 3.25 out of 5