Date Night Soundtrack

           

           The wide variety of music in Date Night including several well-known songs combined with 

other not so well-known songs convinces the viewer of the occurrences happening in the movie. Even though the main characters, Tina Fey and Steve Carell, are placed in dangerous situations, the fun and upbeat music provides the viewer with comic relief. The music helps the audience establish the moods of the scenes and appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos.

During the car chase scene

the song Cobrastyle by Teddybears is playing. This is a very popular song so the viewer of the movie instantly recognizes it. This could appeal to ethos. The movie has gained credibility because a well-liked song is in it. Cobrastyle is very upbeat and fast paced. “Music can also provide ironic contrast. In many cases, the predominant mood of a scene can be neutralized or even reverse with contrasting music” (Kurosawa, 216). Instead of adding intensity to the car chase, the music makes the scene funny. This car chase scene is different than most because the car that is being chased is attached to a taxi. The taxi driver is yelling and having a conversation with Tina Fey and Steve Carell about what to do. With the song Cobrastyle playing, it lightens the mood and depicts the car scene as comical instead of being a very scary experience. If one were to hear the song by itself, they would not think of a car chase. It works though and appeals to logos because the genre of the movie is a comedy and is kept comical even in dramatic scenes like the car chase. This is possible because of the choice of music.

The movie ends with Tina Fey and Steve Carell holding hands walking on their front lawn back to their house. The song (Your love has lifted me) Higher and Higher by Jackie Wilson is playing. “The final scene from a movie is often the most important. Because of its privileged position, it can represent the filmmaker’s summing up of the significance of the previous scenes” (Kurosawa, 211). In the beginning of the movie Steve Carell and Tina Fey are portrayed as a boring couple from New Jersey. Their romance is not like it used to be and the couple is beginning to think they are in a rut. However, by the end of the movie once they have both gone through the thrilling experience of getting away from the “bad” cops who think Tina Fey and Steve Carell have something that they want, the couple’s romance is stronger than ever. The lyrics of the song including the line “Your love, lifting me higher, Than I’ve ever been lifted before, So keep it up, Quench my desire, And I’ll be at your side, forever more” show exactly what the characters are feeling in the moment. “Performers no longer needed to compensate visually for the lack of dialogue. Like stage actors, film players realized that the subtlest nuances of meaning could be conveyed through the voice” (Kurosawa, 211). Tina Fey and Steve Carell do not talk in the last scene. The look and kiss that they give each other paired with the music appeals to pathos. You can see that they both are truly happy and in love. The experience they have gone through has bonded them and made them even closer. The tone of the music is cheerful and makes the viewer feel content. The song Higher and Higher is popular as well as Cobrastyle so it makes the movie end with a very credible source.

            I think the music selection in Date Night is effective at enhancing the viewer’s emotions towards the characters in the film. The music helps distinguish the genre as a comedy and displays ethos, pathos, and logos.