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.

“Date Night” is a throwback to the ’80s-style glossy comedies in which laughs were placed well ahead of logic in often-hackneyed fish-out-of-water tales. As a result, “Date Night” suffers from some of the basic problems those films often possessed – particularly a script in which the bad guys magically behave stupidly at just the right moment to help our heroes save themselves, and our heroes suddenly possess Ninja-like abilities to save themselves.

At its worst, the script by Josh Klausner sinks into such cliched depths that it actually has Phil Foster concoct a “plan” to save the day that leaves the audience entirely clueless until it occurs, and then leaves any logically minded viewer wondering how on earth a suburban tax accountant could possibly put any of it – much less all of it – together.

Yet, just as was the case in many of those ’80s hits, the film is still so much fun in spite of these details that it’s impossible not to be entertained anyway. Director Shawn Levy has become one of the best in the business at combining action and comedy in the two “Night at the Museum” films and the first of the recent Steve Martin “Pink Panther” films, and here he drives right past the plot holes with a near-breakneck pace.

But most importantly, Levy creates a fun atmosphere that leaves plenty of space for his outstanding cast to play in. Carell and Fey are note-perfect as an Everycouple, while an unusually deep cast including Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Mila Kunis, Mark Ruffalo, Kristin Wiig has a blast in small but prominent roles throughout.

Put it all together, and “Date Night” indeed is a perfect night out for any couple. It’ll get you laughing, provide plenty of thrills and give plenty of spark for conversation and further fun at home. Not a bad combination these days, and a rare case where a movie truly delivers what it promises.

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. 

However, I also believe that after taking a good look at America today, they’d shake their heads and wonder how, after such a glorious beginning, we’d wound up in this pitiful condition.  How did we go from George Washington to Barack Obama in, historically speaking, the blink of an eye; from the man who refused to be king to the man who would be czar? 

Speaking of Obama, the White House is trying to convince us that the recent date night that took him and the missus to New York, along with his usual entourage, cost the taxpayers a mere $24,000.  That’s supposed to be the total amount of the roundtrip flight, the two helicopter rides, the limo, dinner and the show.  Fat chance.  My brother-in-law in Michigan had a heart attack last year.  His heart must be working just fine now because it didn’t stop when he got the bill for the 50-mile helicopter ride to the hospital.  It was $12,000, and that was one-way, and without a squad of Secret Service agents riding shotgun. 

I guess the good news for those of us who had to pay the freight is that Obama’s mother-in-law is still hanging around the White House, so he probably didn’t have to spring for a babysitter.  But next time he and Michelle want to step out, I wish he’d just ask for the car keys and 20 bucks for burgers and a couple of cokes.

On a more serious front, I sincerely hope that when the president goes in for his annual check-up, the doctors at Bethesda will do a brain scan.  Surely something must be terribly wrong with a man who seems to be far more concerned with a Jew building a house in Israel than with extremist-Muslims building a nuclear bomb in Iran.