Film Reviews

Meet Dave

• Rating:
• Director: Brian Robbins
• Starring: Eddie Murphy
• Details: USA / 90mins (PG)

Eddie Murphy reteams with his Norbit director in a flick that, while vastly superior to that insipid comedy, is still hardly the former funny man at the top of his game. Murphy again portrays more than one character, but there is no fat suit involved this time (thank Christ). He plays Dave, a human-resembling-spaceship inhabited by aliens from another planet, and the ship's by-the-book captain. Dave's diminutive inhabitants slowly grow to love planet Earth, as they encounter humans for the first time after crash-landing in New York (It couldn't be Cabra?). See, these otherworldly visitors look exactly like you and me, but are really tiny, so they need something to get them around so that they won't be trampled on, while they look for the rock that will save their planet. Through staggering coincidence, Dave is hit by a car driven by the mother (Banks) of the child who is in possession of said rock, and much hi-jinx ensues. It goes without saying that this film is dumber than changing a light bulb while standing in the bath, as Murphy seems intent on wiping clean any memory of his success as a gifted comedic actor. There are moments that will have the most immature 8-year-old slapping themselves in the face in disbelief. But regardless of the awful films the Beverly Hills Cop star has appeared in for the past couple of decades, he's still got instinctive comic timing, and it rears its head here once or twice. The idea of someone learning about the human race by Googling everything they see is an admittedly funny and innovative device. Supporting player-wise, Banks is wholeheartedly charming in an utterly nothing role, while her kid is so sickly cutesy you'll be wishing for Dave to go all T-1000 on his ass. Robbins has made a couple of semi-decent films (Varsity Blues) in his time, but he has no real grasp of the effects-heavy production he's dealing with here. There are a handful of funny moments, and some nice touches from the cast - but it never switches out of second gear, despite endearing sporadically.

Review by Mike Sheridan