Date Night (2010)

Carell's Best Film - 4/5

So I saw this film yesterday called 'Date Night' with the ever wonderful Steve Carell. I've got to say, I think this is my favourite Carell film to date. When you think about it, Carell has really not been on the big scene for very long. The first thing I saw him in was 'Anchorman' and that was only in 2003. For the amount of time he has been around it is amazing at just how successful he has become. The reason why I say 'Date Night' is his best film yet is that it differs somewhat from everything else he has done. 'Evan Almighty' was exactly like 'Bruce Almighty' which didn't differ enormously from 'The 40 Year Old Virgin'. In fact the only two films other than this one that I found him memorable in were 'Dan In Real Life' and 'Little Miss Sunshine' again because these were films unlike what we had seen from him before. Although Carell brings his normal brand of outlandish comedy to us again in 'Date Night', he manages to do so with much more emotion and a more genuine feel to his performance.

The stand out for me in this one was Tina Fey's role as Carell's wife Claire. I never knew she was so funny! Her quirkiness and alternative style to comedy fitted this film so well. We normally see Carell with wife that a man of his personality would never get but here we get a perfect match in which they were both able to bounce off each other and come up with some very funny stuff.

Possibly the funniest moment of the film was a nice double act scene with James Franco and Mila Kunis. Kunis has made a very quick leap to stardom recently having only been involved in blockbuster films since 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' in 2008. Franco has made an almost equally rapid journey to success and in this scene we can clearly see why. The two work so well with each other and even though it was just a fleeting moment of hilarity it was my favourite scene of the film.

This film brought to the table real life emotional events mixed with hilarity and absurdity and left me with a smile on my face. I would recommend this to anyone.

Youth In Revolt (2009)

Cera does dual personality well - 3.5/5

So I saw this film last night called 'Youth In Revolt'. The reason I had been looking forward to this film was because I thought I would see Michael Cera in playing a bad-boy image much unlike many of his other films. We only saw fleeting glimpses of this persona but it was enough. I enjoyed seeing Cera's dual personality and I think he portrayed the alter ego Francois with flair. I wouldn't have thought Cera would be able to pull off a moustache wearing, cigarette smoking womaniser for one second so it was a nice surprise to see him in a role such as this, even if it was only for a bit. His performance as the intelligent, witty, shy and understated character Nick Twisp also did him justice. This is the type of role we are used to seeing Cera in and I was worried it could become a tad repetitive. However, he manages to bring something new to this role; whether it was the inclusion of a dual personality that allowed him to achieve this.
The actual storyline I thought was slightly off at times, major events seemed to happen while passing us by in a flash. However, it managed to stay coherent and funny throughout. You do find yourself asking a lot of questions throughout the film about how Nick Twisp has escaped the law, but I suppose we are meant to thank the brashness of his alter ego for this. The inclusion of beautiful well animated scenes integrated into the film added an indie touch to the proceedings which I actually liked. Ray Liotta's cameo role, as do many of his smaller roles, left much to be desired however.
I feel as if I may be leaning to much towards male actors in this blog, so lets give a hand to Portia Doubleday's performance in the biggest film of her career so far. She was both charismatic and captivating and it seemed like it was meant for the audience to have the same reaction as Nick Twisp when she broke the news about having a boyfriend at the start of the film. Going back to Michael Cera for a minute; this is the type of audience reaction evoked by Cera's geeky and understated performances. We end up rooting for him. This ultimately led to the ending being just what we expected and hoped for.
Would I recommend it? If you're a fan of 'Juno' you'll love this.