OK, so when I was a kid, we owned two movies on ratty old VHS tapes; "Romancing the Stone" and its sequel, "Jewel of the Nile."  I kept flashing back to those movies while I was watching this movie, and it was a nice nostalgic moment for me.  See, I never watched "chick flicks" when I was a kid; they always felt unrealistic to me, and the lead character in "Romancing the Stone" summed up why pretty well.  She was an author who wrote romance novels, but after she has the big adventure she has in the movie, she comments that she can't seem to write the same stories anymore, because she's tired of sweeping romantic scenes where people ride off into the sunset, because "What happens the next morning when the sun comes up?" The couple who are the lead characters in the movie "Date Night" seem to be asking themselves the same question.  They're a middle aged, happily married couple with two kids, and it's not that they're unhappy in their marriage or that they want to leave each other, it's just that they're kind of feeling stuck in that place of complacency where they're looking at their lives and wondering if they've lost their romantic spark.

That's where the trouble begins, of course.  On one fateful date night, the husband tries to surprise his wife and treat her to something out of the ordinary, and they wind up in a fancy restauraunt drinking too much wine, and all of a sudden they're caught up in a whirlwind of corruption, prostitution, and murder.  Here's where the movie could make or break it.  You're already engaged with the lead characters, but with all these plot points flying at you, it's tough to suspend disbelief.  I mean, if I were trapped in a situation like the one in this movie, would I know what to do or would I curl up in a corner and get myself killed?  Luckily, the cast here is likable enough to keep you watching and cheering along even when the plot gets a little absurd.

And what a cast!  I kept pointing at the screen saying "Hey!  I know him!" and "Oh my god I know her!"  Yes, I said this out loud.  Watching a movie in the theater with me is an exceedingly embarrassing experience.  Anyway, the supporting cast here is chock full of talented character actors and actresses who steal every scene with their performances.  Let's see, there's Tariji P. Henson, Jimmi Simpson, Mila Kunis, William Fichtner, and James Franco, just to name a few.  I was excited to see so many of my favorite character actors in one movie.  With so much talent onscreen, I was loving every minute of it, and any concerns I had about the plot careening wildly out of hand were thrown out the window.  So what DOES happen the next morning when the sun comes back up?  You watch this movie and find out.  I promise you'll enjoy the ride.

This movie is pure fun from start to finish, with a nice dash of heart thrown in for good measure.  It would be the perfect movie to watch with a date.