Meet Dave

 

• Released Internationally on 09/07/08
• Released in Malta by KRS on 23/07/08

 

In a nutshell

Dave may look like Eddie Murphy, but he is in fact a spaceship, manned by numerous tiny human-like aliens. They have been sent to Earth on a mission which will hopefully save their home planet, Nil. But while they’re here the crew start to develop certain feelings for the doomed earthlings, and mutiny threatens to compromise their mission.

Saving face?

If you’re still reading, then you haven’t been scared off by the ridiculous plot outline above. And to be fair, once you get past the whole plot concept, the film does somehow manage to offer a few moments of humour and warmth. However, these are the exception rather than the rule, and most scenes are somewhat painful to watch, either due to the poor special effects, or the strained acting, or the general silliness of the whole idea. Still, I imagine younger children will find much to enjoy in Dave’s antics.

Who’s in it?

Murphy takes on the dual role of the spaceship and its bite-sized captain. Elizabeth Banks (Seabiscuit, Spider-man 2 & 3) is Dave’s unlikely love interest, and Gabrielle Union (Deliver Us From Eva, Bad Boys II) is the ship’s 3^rd in command. Scott Caan (Ocean’s 11,12 & 13, Into the Blue) is one of the bewildered police officers dealing with Dave. The film is directed by Brian Robbins, whose other dubious achievements include The Shaggy Dog and Norbit.

O Eddie, where art thou?

Ultimately, this film can be shelved along with the Norbits, Pluto Nashes and Haunted Mansions of Murphy’s career, and it is sadly turning out to be quite a loaded shelf. We all know that he’s got talent, and it’s been very evident in both his early work, as well as recent outings such as Shrek and Dreamgirls. But for reasons known only to him, he still accepts these very obviously silly roles from time to time. I guess he needs the cash. The comic value of Murphy’s rigid, robotic Dave wears thin pretty quickly, and ironically even the spaceships’ captain, also played by Murphy, delivers all his lines emotionlessly, despite being flesh and blood.

 

 

Trailer:

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809846742/trailer (High-res options)