A Really Bad 'Date'

by Brett Parker

Steve Carrell and Tina Fey are undoubtedly two of the most gifted comedians working in showbiz today. That their new movie, Date Night, is so painfully unfunny comes as something of a shock. These two pros labor extra hard to jolt hard laughs into a promising concept, yet the hilarity never manifests. I feel the blame should go to director Shawn Levy, whose career thus far has proven that he is content with lame-brain jokes on a ridiculously lowbrow level. Date Night proves that sometimes even the best of comedians can't fully rescue a shaky script.

Carrell and Fey star as Phil and Claire Foster, a seemingly happy married couple who begin to feel bogged down by their daily suburban routine. Their marriage has become an endless cycle of 9-5 work, taking care of their kids, constant exhaustion, and uneventful date nights at a bland steak house. Once the Fosters discover that their married friends are getting a divorce (Mark Ruffalo and Kristen Wiig in wasted cameos), they begin to question the strength and spark of their very own marriage. Wanting to spice things up, they decide to have a special date night at a trendy restaurant in New York City.

The Fosters get all spruced up and travel to the Big Apple to check out a high-class venue called Claw. It turns out the restaurant has a monumental waiting list and its damn near impossible for the Fosters to suddenly grab a table. Feeling spontaneous, Phil decides to lie and claim a reservation for a couple called the Triplehorns all for himself. The Fosters claim the Triplehorns' table and that's when the mayhem begins. They are approached by two gun-toting shady characters (Common and Jimmi Simpson) who demand that they hand over a stolen hard drive or be killed. The Fosters try desperately to explain that its all a case of mistaken identity, but the thugs grow more threatening as they think they're dealing with the real Triplehorns. The Fosters make a daring escape with their lives and this sets off a wild night in the city in which the married couple will deal with corrupt cops, security intel, hostile con artists, car chases, a big-time gangster, a private gentleman's club, and the N.Y. District Attorney himself.

Date Night is certainly a good idea for a comedy with a plot ripe for comic opportunities, yet the potential is wasted and the film becomes a deadly haven of silence. The jokes are incredibly lame and no one says anything of any intelligible wit. Perhaps any hope for a comic edge was skewered by the film's PG-13 rating. Perhaps if the talent here was allowed to riff without any inhibitions they would've really unearthed some worthwhile laughs. Of course there's nothing wrong with a comedy that the whole family can enjoy, if it respects the intelligence of the family. New York City is more fun in a comedy that plays with its devilish tendencies instead of one that smooths them over to grab a broader audience. Its as if the filmmakers wanted Date Night to be a reworking of After Hours for the Family Channel. Doesn't sound too fun, does it?

Carrell and Fey have certainly earned their now-iconic status as two of the funniest comedians around. They've etched out quite a name for themselves in television, where Carrell's The Office and Fey's 30 Rock have proven to be two of the funniest television shows ever produced. Of course these stars aren't just TV wonders; Carrell was rip-roaring hilarious in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Fey brought a sharp wit to Mean Girls. It's rather jarring that their efforts fail miserably this time out, but I think Levy's own lack of a comic edge most likely put a damper on things. A look over his filmography (Just Married, The Pink Panther) shows that he revels in tame comedies with dim-witted gags. He has the cinematic sensibilities of a clean-cut 13-year-old. He seems to offer up movies for the kiddie matinees. Screwball romps are more fun when the director bears an anarchic spirit themselves. That's why Judd Apatow and Ben Stiller are such fine comic directors.

One positive aspect of Carrell and Fey's casting is their lightning rod for attracting top talents to this project. The film is wall-to-wall with famous faces (Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Mila Kunis, Mark Ruffalo, Kristen Wiig, Olivia Munn, Will i Am, Taraji P. Henson) who most likely took their roles out of respect for Carrell and Fey's brilliant comic work. Yet the screenplay gives none of these actors anything of real wit or intelligence to say and it becomes a sad display of a wasted cast. Despite the film's fatal lack of laughs, a few juicy performances still manage to spark some interest. Franco and Kunis bicker wonderfully as a criminal couple, displaying an energetic and uproarious tension that Carrell and Fey crucially lack. Wahlberg is oddly convincing as a rakish security expert who constantly shows off his flawless abs. The film's funniest performance comes from J.B. Smoove as a frantically terrified Cab Driver who gets caught up in a high-speed chase with the Fosters. His school-girl squealing and howling hysterics generate the only laughs I really had in this film. Smoove frequents television a lot ('Til Death, Castle, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Everybody Hates Chris) but now its time to put him in more movies!

Carrell and Fey have done wonderful work in the past and they will continue to do great comedy in the future and one day we will all forget about Date Night. It's a disappointing reminder that they are not invincible. So if you want to check out a laugh-a-minute comedy of biting hilarity with a cast that hits on all cylinders, check out Hot Tub Time Machine. I saw it for a second time with a group of friends and I laughed even harder than I did the first time! It has everything that Date Night wanted to have, but couldn't quite grasp.

Old School 'Titans' Hold New School 'Clash'

by Brett Parker

Clash of the Titans is a pop feast madly in love with the outsized aspects of Greek mythology. There is almost zero modesty in the film's depiction of the dandified Gods of Olympus and the havoc they wreak on the paranoid humans below. This film is an ancient peacock of unapologetic fantasy. This stark raving adventure is basked in hopelessly fun CGI work that essentially makes this film an excuse for dazzling eye candy. If you're romantic for the more fantastical elements of Greek mythology and have a sweet tooth for blockbuster effects spectacles, Clash of the Titans will certainly put a delighted smile on your face.

The film takes place in ancient Greek times within the city of Argos, where a bitter war is brewing between the humans and the gods. The inhabitants of Earth have grown tired of the Gods messing around with their fates and they begin a misguided revolt against their spiritual rulers (their efforts appear half-baked and clueless; how do you stand up against almighty Gods?). This angers Zeus (Liam Neeson), the head God of Olympus who loves his human creations and cannot fathom why they would betray him. Wanting desperately to restore the order of things, Zeus agrees to let his estranged brother and god of the Underworld, Hades (Ralph Fiennes) launch a sinister plot to terrorize the people of Earth with demonic monsters. Angered primarily by the people of Argos, Hades offers them a deal: offer up the Princess Andromeda (Alexa Davalos) as a sacrifice or he will unleash the Kraken, a gigantic demon beast of devastating destruction, on Argos and have everything and everyone destroyed.

An ageless woman named Io (Gemma Arterton) informs the people of Argos that hope may be in their midst in the form of Perseus (Sam Worthington). Perseus was raised as the son of a simple fisherman, but it is revealed that he is the illegitimate child of Zeus, who impregnated the wife of his human enemy, Acrisius (Jason Fleyming) just to spite him. Acrisius retaliated by casting Perseus off to sea, only to be scooped up by the fisherman Spyros (Pete Postlethwaite), who claimed him for his own. The people of Argos believe the demigod nature of Perseus makes him the perfect candidate to help save their land from the angry Gods. He is then whisked away on a perilous quest in which he must defeat creatures of the underworld, take the head of the snake-like Medusa (Natalia Vodianova), and battle the colossal Kraken as it inches towards its mission of annihilation.

Clash of the Titans is, of course, a remake of the 1981 Desmond Davis cult classic that was beloved for its special effects work, supervised by the now legendary Ray Harryhausen. The film employed a skillful display of stop-motion animation, considered dazzling at the time, to bring its colorful creatures to life. The effects work seems dated compared by today's state-of-the-art standards, but it is nonetheless an example of stop-motion animation as an art form. These visuals, along with kitschy acting, makes the original a candy-coated B-movie adventure too fun to be denied.

Director Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk) essentially wants to retain the original film's sense of zestful adventure while making the effects work sleeker, shinier, and more aggressive. Most effects spectacles can come across as redundant and relentless, but Clash of the Titans really knows how to pump its sequences with juices of excitement and visual creativity. Letterier films his action scenes as if they were theme-park rides and they end up containing the same sense of urgent adrenaline as a result of this. Perseus has an intense battle with lobster-like creatures that holds us in a surprisingly intense grasp. A hellish confrontation with Medusa in her alluringly deranged Underworld lair provides a dark well of thrills. The film's ultimate money shot comes with the appearance of the Kraken, the outsized sea monster from hell who is sixty stories of slimy tentacles, horrifying jaws, and scaly wrath. The design and execution of this aquatic demon is truly awesome!

With effects as grand and compelling as this popcorn ride dishes out, it can be hard for actors present in such a venture to keep their heads above water and generate interest. This cast doesn't have that problem; we're intrigued by their daring efforts to make this over-the-top story believable. Worthington makes good on the promise made in Avatar that he is a compelling and human action figure with the sort of brutish exterior that will serve him well in future action vehicles. You could call him a Russell Crowe lite. Neeson and Fiennes bring an effortless prestige to the godlike mystique their characters demand. All that's left for one to really ask for is a strong female sexpot in a suggestive toga, and Gemma Arterton supplies that with great success!

Since most of modern storytelling derived from the formalities of Greek Myth, we can see the origins of treasured movies within the film's plot. Shades of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings are painfully obvious while the Perseus dilemma of being half-man/half-God is clearly an early model for Superman. These recognitions bring a surprising delight to the audience as the film unfolds. In his various writings, American mythologist Joseph Campbell often claimed that almost every mythical story can be traced back to the same structure: an ordinary man with special abilities gets a call to adventure and must endure a perilous journey to restore order against evil and prove themselves as heroes. Along the way, they will meet an older mentor, various sidekicks, and a loved one to protect. In the end, evil forces are defeated, order is restored, and the hero can live happily ever after with a loved one by their side and enlightenment in their heart. With Clash of the Titans, we can certainly recognize the formalities of this timeless structure and we're deeply pleased to see that it still holds up when done efficiently.

I could write on about how the film's plot evokes contemporary ideals regarding man vs. religion, government, or foreign invaders, but too much intelligent thought should not really be applied to Clash of the Titans. It is essentially an excuse to roll out dazzling spectacles of CGI thrills and on that level it succeeds quite deliciously. It proves that computer effects can still excite us in a B-movie, that Worthington and Arterton are game for more leading and interesting roles, and that Greek mythology will always be an inspiring source for cinematic fun.