Movie Review: Date Night and Back-Up Plan

Romantic comedies make for the perfect date night movie - especially one called "Date Night".  Tina Fey and Steve Carrell are a middle-aged couple - Phil and Claire Foster - stuck in the rut of family life, work and kids. They're weekly date night has become one more part of the routine, so Phil decides to jazz things up by taking his wife to an upscale Manhattan restaurant.  Unable to get a table and unwilling to give up, they identify themselves as the Triplehorns - a couple who have failed to show for their reservation.  The mistaken identity leads to a laundry list of dangers, close calls and slapstick humor.  There were plenty of car chases and shoot-em-ups for Dave, enough romance and clever dialog for me, and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments for us both.

Our second date night film was "Backup Plan", starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin.  Zoe (Lopez) has given up on finding "the guy" and decides to have a child on her own.  On the same day she visits the doctor to set her plan in motion, she also meets Stan - who just might turn out to be Mr. Right.  Thus the comedy of errors begins:  from attempting to hide the morning sickness, fatigue and cravings of early pregnancy while dating, through witnessing a member of her single-moms support group give birth in a kiddie pool, to the mood swings and ungainliness of the third trimester...  This movie also satisfied both of our tastes in films (although maybe a little too "chick-flick" for Dave at times) but the best part was sharing the memories of our childrens' arrivals that this movie stirred up.

We recommend both of these flicks for date night viewing and we also strongly recommend having at least a bi-weekly date night.  Even if your children are teens like ours or completely on their own, having an occasional night to return to your dating days and focus only on each other is worth the effort and cost.   There's no need to act your age, act like kids again!