Darling ‘Date Night’

In the comedy “Date Night,” sitcom stars Steve Carell and Tina Fey play a dorky married couple who try out new things together to rejuvenate the romance. They soon realize that taking someone else’s table at a pricey restaurant is a bad move, and they spend the rest of that night fleeing for their lives.

“Date Night” makes good use of the finely matched Carell and Fey, who continue to portray well-meaning but awkward protagonists successfully in their respective TV shows. While their characters here are a mite toned down, they--and the mishaps they figure in--are no less funny; together, they “dub” dating couples at neighboring tables, panic after their near-death experiences, melt at the sight of perpetually shirtless Mark Wahlberg, and infiltrate a kinky strip joint. The situations could have been more circuitous and audacious a la “The Hangover,” or even the better episodes of “30 Rock” and “The Office,” but despite opting for a simpler, more obvious structure and style, “Date Night” still has riotous moments of adorable awkwardness.