Nearly every long-term couple hits some rough patches – periods in time where they lose their once-boiling attraction for each other and perhaps even forget what they loved about their partners in the first place. Phil and Claire Foster, a suburban New Jersey couple with two young kids and utterly boring careers, are a perfect example of this marital ennui.

In the new action-comedy “Date Night,” the Fosters (played by Steve Carell and Tina Fey) get a chance to break out of their rut in a big way when they pretend to be a couple called the Tripplehorns in order to snag a table at the hottest new restaurant in New York City. Before their meal is even over, two dirty cops (Common and Jimmi Simpson) have forced them into a back alley and threaten to kill the Fosters because the cops truly believe they’re the Tripplehorns and that the Tripplehorns are in possession of a very incriminating and valuable flash drive.

This case of mistaken identity leads the Fosters into the craziest night of their lives, one in which they’ll engage in a spectacular and hilarious car chase (frankly, one of the best ever staged on film), gunfights, break-ins, burglaries and even stripping (don’t ask) en route to rekindling their spark and realizing they have far more adventurous sides than they’ve ever realized. (more…)

The other day, I received an e-mail from a lady who let me know she was in the habit of forwarding my articles to her daughter who’s away at college.  Apparently, she felt I could provide the young woman with an antidote to her left-wing professors.  I wished her luck, but I didn’t hold out much hope.  After all, by this time, the young coed has been immersed in public education for 13 or 14 years.  Let a child be raised by wolves and you shouldn’t be too surprised if, upon being rescued, his table manners leave something to be desired. 

I’m not engaging in hyperbole when I say that I’d sooner send a youngster to Florida during hurricane season than to most colleges.  As I see it, he or she has a very good chance of surviving the hurricanes.  Their hair might get mussed, but at least their brains wouldn’t be scrambled.

Frankly, I’m surprised that there are any young conservatives left in America.  They deserve to be on the list of endangered species.  Considering the amount of pressure they face from peers and professors, I am in awe of those with the gumption to stand their ground.  If the nation’s Founding Fathers came back to life, I believe they’d recognize them as the progeny of those Americans they last saw hurling tea into Boston Harbor, fighting at Lexington and freezing at Valley Forge.  (more…)