Don't 'Meet Dave'

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By Linda Cook | Wednesday, July 16, 2008 3:23 PM CDT | () comments

Eddie Murphy and Gabrielle Union are shown in a scene from, "Meet Dave." (20th Century Fox) Buy this Photo

“Meet Dave”

1 star

Running time: 90 minutes

Rated: PG for crude humor

Stars: Eddie Murphy, Elizabeth Banks, Gabrielle Union, Scott Caan, Ed Helms, Kevin Hart, Pat Kilbane and Judah Friedlander

Director: Brian Robbins

Screenwriters: Rob Greenberg and Bill Corbe

Unless you’re a die-hard Eddie Murphy fan, there’s no reason for you to “Meet Dave,” a substandard comedy that should have gone straight to DVD.

Murphy’s career has had its ups and downs, to say the least, since his glory days of “Beverly Hills Cop.” For every “The Nutty Professor,” there’s a “Norbit.” And now, here he is with “Norbit’s” director, Brian Robbins, and back in outer space. (“The Adventures of Pluto Nash,” anyone?)

The fish-out-of-water theme, which is a formula to begin with, is written strictly by the numbers. You have the bathroom humor, the forced romance, the character who is a stereotypical gay joke and, of course, the carnival scene, the hallmark of the majority of bad movies.

Murphy plays the captain of a spaceship in his own image. That is, the very ship itself is shaped like Murphy. It contains, at least compared with earthlings, very tiny people who make it move, dance, talk and sing, with Murphy, naturally, playing the ship as well. If that sounds like a concept that should have been rethought before it was green-lit, that’s because it is.

Murphy’s crew includes Number Two (Ed Helms), Number Three (Gabrielle Union), who has eyes for the all-business captain, and the Engineer (Judah Friedlander). They pilot the ship to land in New York City near the Statue of Liberty.

Dave, whose mechanical motions and responses to people appear very strange indeed, meets Gina (Elizabeth Banks) and her son Josh (Austin Lynd Myers). She unsuspectingly helps the crew in its mission while simultaneously developing a friendship and then deep affection for Dave.

The show does have a couple of funny moments, and they’re mostly because of Murphy, whose comic timing is intact. It’s just that he doesn’t have that much to work with. Also, it’s nice to see Scott Caan (wonderfully cast as a cad in “Friends With Money”) as the only person in New York City who realizes just what Dave is.

If you’ve seen more than 10 movies in your life, you’ve seen these set-ups before. You know what’s going to happen when a dog starts sniffing around people who are about an inch high. You know what’s going to happen to Dave in the bathroom. You know there’s going to be a dance sequence.

And you know that, even if you’re not a fan of his latest film, Murphy probably has another stellar onscreen performance (like his “Dreamgirls” role) on the way.