We Saw Date Night Today

Haven’t I learned by now to forget everything I read? Helaine always picks the right movie. She certainly did today.

My parents are in town. We’re trying to keep them busy. After all they could watch MSNBC and sit on the couch without leaving Florida! Helaine’s suggestion was we go to the movies.

For the past few weeks Helaine has wanted to see Date Night starring Steve Carrell and Tina Fey. I resisted because of some pretty awful reviews. Haven’t I learned by now to forget everything I read? Helaine always picks the right movie. She certainly did today.

Carrell and Fey are a married couple with two children from suburban New Jersey. A guilt induced ‘date night’ leads to a fib which leads to mistaken identity which leads to a mad chase through New York City. The story is far fetched but Carrell and Fey are charming with very good chemistry. Sometimes that’s enough.

Helaine and my mom were very favorably impressed by a shirtless Mark Wahlberg. As Steve Carrell’s character points out, Wahlberg has muscles on his shoulders… like I couldn’t if I really wanted to.

Among the funnier supporting players was stand-up comedian J. B. Smoove as a New York cabbie who by virtue of a head-on crash and locked bumpers gets involved. Someone must have asked for a younger, safer Jimmie Walker and lucked out. This guy is very funny in scenes where heavyweight mugging is required.

The same goes for James Franco and Mila Kunis as Taste and Whippet–the people Carrell and Fey have been mistaken for. They’re great as a couple arguing while being held at gunpoint!

Like I said, parts of the story were a little beyond belief. A long sequence at a sex club late in the movie could have been shortened or even removed. Have you ever noticed no one ever asks for a movie to be longer?

Bottom line, the critics were wrong. Go see it, but don’t worry if you miss it. This movie is destined to play a few hundred times on TBS. You know the type.

Long Trip To The Movies

What’s left of Ernesto left Connecticut early. Sunday turned out sunny and pleasant. We decided to go to the movies.

Actually, we attempted a twofer. My car had gotten new tires and fresh oil and was sitting in front of the tire place in Cheshire. We headed to the movie theater in Southington.

Good idea! We’d save time and miles. Of course I forgot to bring the keys for my car. I’ll say it – what an idiot.

Today’s movie was “Little Miss Sunshine” with Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Alan Arkin and Steve Carrell. At the moment, there is a law somewhere which says Greg Kinnear must be in every movie made.

The story centers around the Hoover family of Albuquerque. They are dysfunctional in just about every possible way.

The dad is a failing motivational speaker. The grandfather snorts drugs in the bathroom. The son hasn’t spoken for months. The brother-in-law is a gay professor specializing in Proust who has just failed at suicide.

This is a comedy based on interaction between family members. Each one is more screwed up than the next, except the nine year old daughter, Olive (Abigail Breslin).

I’ve read, more than once, this is her movie. I wouldn’t go that far, but she certainly holds her own with major league acting talent. And, hers is the pivotal role around which the action revolves and the family unites.

Stop! That last sentence might lead you to believe this is a feel good movie. No way – this is a very dark comedy… very dark.

I laughed out loud a few times, but I left the theater unsatisfied. I’m not sure yet, but it could have been the same reason I was unnerved by “Postcards From The Edge.” When dysfunctional life is too close to reality, I have trouble laughing at it.

Helaine on the other hand thought the movie was great.

Maybe, today especially, her opinion should be valued higher. After all, it was because of me, we had to drive all the way home to pick up the keys before retrieving my car.

The 40 Year Old Virgin

Were we the last people in America to see The 40 Year Old Virgin&#185? We’ve seen it now!

Other than getting the newspaper and picking up the mail, I didn’t leave the house on Saturday. Helaine wasn’t far behind. Tonight, with little going on and both of us in pajamas, I asked if she wanted to see a movie?

We had never ordered a pay-per-view film before. I hit the big ‘money button’ on the remote control and scrolled through the titles. There’s a lot of garbage available. In fact, the percentage of crap is astounding, especially when coupled with the fact – someone wants you to pay for it!

We got to the “T”s before there was one movie we’d even consider watching. Helaine said “The 40 Year Old Virgin” was supposed to be funny, so we gave it a shot. The $3.99 we paid seems reasonable versus what it would cost to rent a DVD.

It was certainly a lot more convenient.

There’s plenty to like about this movie. The cast was excellent, starting with Steve Carrell and working down. But let me start where the credit belongs – the writing.

On many occassions Carrell and Judd Apatow’s script could have easily turned Andy, the title character, into a stereotype. Instead, at each fork in the road, Andy establishes himself as multidimensional and human. It’s a neat trick, and though some of his personality traits are unexpected, it works.

Andy, a stock clerk at a Circuit City type store, reveals his lack of sexual experience while playing cards with the guys. The movie is his journey out of virginity.

This is a real ensemble cast with five or six solid performances by characters that aren’t written paper thin. I particularly like Seth Rogen (the tattoos were ‘special effects’), Romany Malco and Paul Rudd as his co-workers and Catherine Keener as Trish.

Until last week I had no idea who Catherin Keener was. Then I saw Death To Smoochy, where she had a large supporting role opposite Edward Norton. She was very good last week and just as good this week.

If you were watching TV any time around the release of the movie, you probably saw a clip of the scene where Steve Carrell has his chest waxed. The word is, his pained expression… his pain actually… was real.

It was hysterical, but I am such a wimp I had to look away.

I enjoyed Carrell on The Daily Show and in Anchorman. This was far better and he is a fine comedic actor. I haven’t seen The Office, his show on NBC. I guess I have to now.

My guess is, in time this movie will be considered a classic. Honest. Is that too much to predict?

There is some nudity and explicit sexual content. If my daughter has seen this movie, I’d rather not know.

&#185 – Actually, no more than two minutes ago, my friend Farrell said he hadn’t see it either. He is in England at the moment, so we very well may be the only people in America not to have seen it.