You'll want to stand up this 'Date'

There's no doubt that Steve Carell and Tina Fey are immensely talented comedians. With "The Office" and "30 Rock," respectively, both have proven that they're the real deal when it comes to performing. Who could ever forget Fey's impeccable impression of a certain ex-governor turned Real American Storyteller? Or Carell's "40 Year Old Virgin"?

But "Date Night" is exactly the kind of flick you hate to see stars of their talent sink to. It systematically dulls everything that makes them unique. Carell still has those trademark awkward moments, but they seem painfully forced rather than effortless. Fey, meanwhile, plays a character with so little personality that you'd struggle to come up with anything more than "brunette" to describe her. Where's the mocking, quirky Liz Lemon of old? Sacrificed for the sake of mainstream accessibility, it seems, along with everything else that could have made a Carell-Fey collaboration different from all the other marital comedies out there.

Carell plays Phil Foster, a tax lawyer, and Fey plays his wife Claire, a real estate agent. Though they are a seemingly happy married couple, the Fosters have gotten stuck in a rut: eating at the same restaurants every week, working the same humdrum jobs and scheduling their sexual activity. But one night, they decide to spice things up, hit the City (of New York) and dine at an expensive restaurant. Lacking a reservation, the Fosters do the honorable thing and take someone else's. But it turns out that the Tripplehorns, whose reservation they stole, have stolen a flash drive from the wrong guy. Two thugs, played by Jimmi Simpson and Common (you should take some better roles, yo) mistake the Fosters for the thieves, and "Date Night" becomes an action chase around the city.

The set-up is improbable yet yawnsomely conventional - it places Fey and Carell in ridiculous situations that could and should be funny, and then wastes the opportunity with recycled and worn-out jokes. Scenes with a bare-chested Mark Wahlberg and his sexy Israeli girlfriend could have been comedy gold, but the dialogue feels flat and strained. Carell and Fey do their best to squeeze out whatever humor they can, but what can you expect when the most significant credit of the screenwriter is for "Shrek the Third?"

Granted, there are a few moments that hit the bull's eye. A short aside involving James Franco and Mila Kunis is amusing enough, and there are a few chuckle-worthy running gags. But frankly, when we're dealing with Carell and Fey, we shouldn't be able to count the number of funny parts on one hand. "Date Night" tries to turn the two leads into multiplex superstars, but it muffles everything funny about them in the process.

Blame the Hollywood-ization of the comedy genre, with its old formulas and rigid recipes. The future of on-screen humor, it seems, is better suited to television, where a widespread, scattered appeal isn't as necessary. Or maybe Carell and Fey just needed some better material. Either way, just as Michael Scott of "The Office" is funny because he's awkward, "Date Night" is awkward because it's not funny - and it should have been.

2 Paws

Pros: Tina Fey and Steve Carell make funny faces on the poster.