Date Night
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: April 9, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
15
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
All the time Phil and Claire seem like the kind of people who don't belong in a screwball comedy. That's why it's funny. They're bewildered. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
This is the rare screwball comedy that is superbly paced, cleverly plotted and hilarious from start to finish. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
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. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
In addition to Carell and Fey, Date Night boasts a deft supporting cast...Best of all are a very droll James Franco and Mila Kunis as the downtown hipsters for whom the Fosters are mistaken. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Regardless of the silliness of the situation -- or, in truth, because of it -- they're a joy to watch. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
The movie knows enough, most of the time, to just let the funny people be funny. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Best of all, the filmmakers know when to pull the plug. Date Night clocks in at 88 minutes and would not have been as funny at 89. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
These talented performers star in two of the wittiest, most sophisticated sitcoms on the air, but for this movie pairing they're stuck with an endlessly silly plot line and overblown physical mayhem that is instantly forgettable. The fact that they make it so funny nonetheless is a testament to their abilities. Read full review
70
VarietyLael Loewenstein
An uncommonly engaging date movie. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Watching these two intensely likable comedians work together is a special pleasure. Read full review
70
SlateDana Stevens
It's cast, down to the smallest role, with genuinely funny performers, people who understand how to time a joke, deliver a setup, underplay a deadpan glance. Read full review
70
TimeMary Pols
It's a lively, often astute piece of marital sociology wrapped up in an action frolic involving an extremely average New Jersey couple. Read full review
68
NPRLinda Holmes
Date Night isn't great; it's not really going for "great." But it's a well-executed comedy with a warm but not cloying center. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
There’s something genuine and more than a little sad at the core of Levy’s poorly staged, modestly amusing comedy, but it isn’t the part that involves flash drives, blackmail, and glowering, gun-toting bad guys. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
No one is going to remember the movie in a month, but for Mommies and Daddies seeking a night's break from their children, it's adequate entertainment. Read full review
63
Orlando SentinelRoger Moore
Fey flirts and Carell kvetches, Walhberg goes shirtless and Liotta eats Italian. No surprises there. What really clicks is the couple at the core. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Date Night is a product substantially inferior to the material routinely finessed by Carell and Fey, on their respective hit shows, into comic gold. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Once the guns come out, and the car crashes begin, Date Night loses the funny. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Stay for the outtakes – they’re improv delights, suggesting the movie that might have been if they had just left it all to Carell and Fey. Read full review
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
Basically a PG-13 version of “After Hours,” with more than a bit of “The Out-of-Towners” thrown in. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua Rothkopf
It makes you laugh in fits and starts, but more often it feels toothless and exhausted, the kind of project that exists to give Ray Liotta work. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill Goodykoontz
It's an uneven proposition, veering wildly from genuinely funny scenes directly into ridiculousness and back again. But every time Shawn Levy's movie makes that journey, it's harder to get back on solid footing. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
The trouble is, too much of director Shawn Levy's '80s-ish lark is filled with noise, when it really needed more quietly silly stuff. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
All this is good as far as it goes, but the problem is the good parts don't last long enough. Read full review
60
SalonMary Elizabeth Williams
As a pleasant domestic comedy/action-adventure that, refreshingly, doesn't seem to hate its characters, Date Night is just fine. But is it good enough to merit hiring a baby sitter? I'd rather have some potato skins at the Teaneck Tavern. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Movies are the lesser medium for Fey and Carell. They’re the stars of two relatively sophisticated, media-savvy network sitcoms, yet their big-screen comedies are retro. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Director Shawn Levy delivers his usual middle-of-the-road product. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe Williams
This shrill caper is more like a blind date between fingernail and chalkboard. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Date Night manages to live down to its store-brand title. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Date Night, like so many other films of its type, too often relies on words, catchphrases and inflections that signify a generally accepted notion of funniness rather than being, you know, actually funny. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
All that starring talent isn’t exactly wasted here; it’s just diluted, watered down enough to demote “really funny” to sort of funny, now and then, here and there, some of the time. Hey, it’s the movie biz. Read full review
42
Tampa Bay TimesSteve Persall
Date Night is really just another example of what happens when funny sitcom stars are lumped together in a movie, believing that laughter exponentially increases with screen size. Read full review
40
Village VoiceKarina Longworth
A jumble of genres, tones, and styles, Date Night ultimately strains to be a serious movie about marriage, with one joke: that, even when surrounded by excitement, Claire and Phil revert to being dull. But in practice, their dullness is just dull. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Never breaks out of its dullsville rut. Read full review
40
The New YorkerDavid Denby
A clunky and obvious comedy. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Why are Steve Carell and Tina Fey wasting their time, and ours, by appearing in the miserable comedy Date Night? Read full review
0
Boxoffice MagazineWade Major
A broadly promising premise and well-matched stars prove no match for an abominably unfunny screenplay and the work of the poisonously untalented Shawn Levy--arguably the worst director making big-budget studio films today. Read full review
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