Date Night Scene Analysis: “Car Chase”

Here’s a wildly creative scene that turns an otherwise cliche set-up into something fun, unexpected, and tense.

Written By: Josh Klausner

Scene Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TSXq6wBPVM

Scene Context:

Phil and Claire Foster are being chased by dirty cops in a terrible case of mistaken identity.

Scene Conflicts:

• Phil and Claire need to escape.
• Their car is locked in with a frightened taxi driver.

Scene Outline:

1. Claire and Phil get into the car. They’re shot at by dirty cops.
2. Phil takes out an antique pistol and gets ready to shoot back. The cops duck.
3. The gun fails to fire. Phil tosses it out and drives off. The dirty cops prepare to chase them.
4. Phil crashes headfirst into a taxi. The driver accosts him for the damage.
5. Phil tries to leave by putting the car in reverse. The taxi comes with him.
6. Phil brakes, tells the driver that they need to find a way to separate their cars. Tries driving forward, causing the taxi to stay stuck.
7. The pair of drivers yell at each other, decide to both go into reverse. They both press on the gas and try to break apart as…
8. The dirty cops round the corner and fire at them. Realizing the danger, Phil shifts his car into drive and decides to start a car chase… with the taxi attached to his front.

Why It Works:

Only One Solution: As complications arise and the stakes become increasingly dire, it becomes clear that there’s only one solution available to the characters. And of course, it has to be the most inconvenient solution possible. Here, it’s the characters being forced to drive through New York at a high speed while attached to a taxi. By only allowing the characters this single unfortunate option, they are put into increasing environmental conflict and, similarly, are brought to showcase how much they truly want their desire.

Comedy through Chaos: This scene is erratic, nonstop, and gives the audience zero time to breathe. The frantic pace is something more akin to action thrillers, but it works to comedic effect here, with most of the jokes coming from the situation’s absurdity. As the characters react in increasingly panicked fashion, the scene maintains a steady stream of comedic tension that ultimately climaxes in a sudden moment of stoicism, dramatically shifting the tenor of the scene.

Continuing Character Development: Phil’s key flaw is seemingly his refusal to take risk. He starts the film too afraid to push his own limits, but grows into someone, through the situations he’s confronted with, who can take more control over his environment. This scene is another beat in this development, with him making the clear decision to continue forth with this plan that, by all means, isn’t all too thought-out. Regardless, it’s the only option for Phil, and by entirely committing to this action, he effectively develops just a bit further than he had before.

Summary:

The genre of the action-comedy is a hard one to nail down, largely because filling your film with both action and comedy takes away from potential character-based drama. This is an efficiency issue that pops up in most genre films- how can you show genre beats while also telling a compelling story? In Date Night, this is accomplished by blending the beats together in a way that is astonishingly proficient. Here, we have a car chase (action), tied with a ridiculous situation and character (comedy), that ultimately develops the film’s protagonist (drama). It’s scenes like this that make me admire these genre-mixed films as more than simply audience pandering- it is hard to craft something like this, but when it works, it’s nothing less than plain fun.