Meet Dave Review

Not since a Mr.Hitler stopped giving out free ice cream to orphans and pursued other interests has there been a man with a more checkered CV than Eddie Murphy. I'm not saying his films are inherently evil perse, but the dramatic downfall from good is simply breathtaking. Consider the evidence. Once the man made 48 hours, Trading Places and Beverley Hills Cop not 3 years years apart. Now he grinds out a living with The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Daddy Day Care and Norbit. On long winter nights I weep for you Eddie.

I'll give you three guesses which camp this film falls into after a quick run down of the plot. Eddie plays Captain (thanks Imdb) who is the alien captain of a spaceship shaped like Eddie Murphy. He also plays the spaceship called Dave. With me so far? The Captain and his crew wander around Earth (as Dave) laughing at all the peculiar things us earthlings do, while looking for a meteor that can hold all the H20 from the ocean in order to save their planet. Any clue which camp we're in yet people?

A fair indication of the quality of a movie can be glimpsed by the trailers before hand. Not always reliable but its like the warm up act before the headliner. In this case we have Wild Child, College Road Trip, The Rocker and The Love Guru. Surely this quartet of tedious crap would make the main event look like The Beatles and Led Zep with Jimi on harp. Sadly no. Instead (just to run this metaphor into the ground) its like watching Steps supported by B*witched.

The argument of 'but its for kids' will not stand in a year where Wall-E is skating about, so on with the slating. The jokes fall flat, the 'message' is boring and confused, the actors are detestable and the music (usually quite good in Eddie films) is bland. Smiling like a spastic with a twitch is also not suitable as the basis for a gag that never goes away. Saying all that it had two seconds of Its A Wonderful Life in it. Therefore its not the worst film of the year for during these two seconds I smiled like a spastic with a twitch.