Date Night (DVD)

Date Night (2010) starring Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Leighton Meester, Jimmi Simpson, Common, Taraji P. Henson. Married couple Claire and Phil Foster (Fey and Carell) decide to spend their "date night" at a nice uptown restaurant. They don't, however, have reservations, and they have to steal someone else's reservation to get a table. Oops. The people whose reservation they steal are in big trouble with the bad guys (Simpson and Common), who naturally mistake the Fosters for them. After escaping the bad guys on their first encounter, Claire and Phil go on the run. Several comedy set-pieces follow, some funny, some not so much. The car chase scene stands out as a bad idea. Fey and Carell, however, are good together on screen, and there were moments, particularly early in the film, where I laughed out loud. The captions are excellent. Grade: B-

Midnight Run (DVD)

Midnight Run (1988) starring Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto, Joe Pantoliano. Bounty hunter Jack Walsh (De Niro) is offered $100,000 to bring in Jon Mardukas (Grodin), an accountant who embezzled $15 million from the mob and gave it to charity. One problem: They have to get from New York to Los Angeles in a few days, and Mardukas is afraid to fly. Second problem: Both the FBI and the mob want to get their hands on Mardukas. The movie is basically one long chase scene, salvaged only by the chemistry between De Niro and Grodin, which is pretty good. Grade: B-

Mafioso (DVD)

Mafioso (1962) starring Alberto Sordi. An Italian factory executive, living in Milan with his wife and two young daughters, decides to take a vacation back to his home in Sicily. While he's there, the mob decides to call in a favor, and he finds himself in the unlikely role of Mafia assassin. Tapped by a Sicilian don to perform a hit in New York, the inexperienced Antonio (Sordi) must somehow carry out his mission, but is not emotionally prepared to be a hit man. Walking the fine line between comedy and tragedy, this film succeeds as a darkly humorous look at a time in our history. From another angle, it's "The Godfather" seen through the other end of the telescope. My only complaint is that the ending seems a bit abrupt -- one of the few times I've criticized a film for being too short. Grade: A-