MEET DAVE

"Our first human encounter"

When a meteorite crashes into Liberty Island you might have expected to find a large piece of space rock but instead a human (Murphy) figure walks out from the rubble, wearing a dazzling white suit. As he heads into New York, he seems to be learning as he goes along but when his first encounter with traffic goes disastrously wrong, being knocked down by Gina Morrison (Banks), you might realise that he isn't quite human. In fact the white suited human is not a human at all but an intergalactic starship, manned by a crew of intrepid explorers looking for a way to save their home planet.

Over his long career Eddie Murphy has turned himself into many things but never has he been the captain of a spaceship that is shaped like Eddie Murphy!

Do you remember the time when Eddie Murphy was good? When he left 'Saturday Night Live' to become a huge movie star in 1980s he chose to showcase his talent in films like '48 Hrs', 'Trading Places', 'Beverley Hills Cop' and 'Coming to America'. Each as a box office smash and his trademark grin and laugh made his a box office sensation. The problem is that something happen to Eddie Murphy in the 1990s that made him forget about the cutting edge comedian, who made his name with his foul-mouthed comedic tones, to become a actor who starred in more family oriented pictures. 'Daddy Day Care', 'Dr Dolittle', 'The Nutty Professor', 'The Haunted Mansion', 'Pluto Nash' and 'Norbit', not forgetting his vocal work on 'Mulan' and as Donkey in the 'Shrek' movies has totally pulverised any remnant of the comedian who had the world in his hand in the 1980s. Even a return to form in 'Dreamgirls' is a only a slight diversion away from his family oriented career because now we have 'Meet Dave'

In his latest family comedy, Eddie Murphy again tackles multiple roles but this time he doesn't have to endure hours in the make up chair. His primary role is that of a starship captain from the planet Nill, one sent on a very important mission to drain the Earth's oceans so take all the salt back to dying planet, as it is their main fuel source. The crew of the ship are completed dedicated to the mission and follow the Nillian philosophy of zero emotion and total commitment to their home planet and their way of life, reflecting the American opinion of what Soviet Russia was like in the 1950s, so very up-to-date. Eddie Murphy's other role is that of the starship itself because the people of Nill are in fact very small compared to the people of Earth so they have had to create a ship, that just happens to have the same bodily form as their captain, that would allow them to blend into the Earth environment of New York. Of course this fish-out-of-water tale should be filled with quality, slap stick comedy but unfortunately you'd be very wrong.

While the film airs on the side of slapstick and that fish-out-of-water quality, there is completely nothing original here. The jokes are very old hat with, the Nillian's struggling to cope with Earth's culture and dependence on emotions. Of course the ships crew become more than enamoured with Human behaviour, which supposed to lead to rebellion and of course laughter but the movie ever only manages to raise a smile.

'Meet Dave' is film making by the numbers. With basic laughs, a very average performance from Eddie Murphy and only Elizabeth Banks and Gabrielle Union giving any effort to the proceedings this is a movie that just doesn't really try.

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The Nutty Professor

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2008