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About the movie
Meet Dave
Rating: 
Cast:
Paul Scheer; Yvette Nicole Brown; Elizabeth Banks; Brandon Molale; Ed Helms; Gabrielle Union; Smith Cho; Stephanie Venditto; Eddie Murphy; Judah Friedlander
Directed by:
Brian Robbins
On the web:
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Hey, kids, 'Meet Dave'
Murphy's sci-fi flick cruises at preteen speed
Leaving the repulsive "Norbit" far behind, Eddie Murphy returns to good-natured family comedy in the willfully cheesy sci-fi romp "Meet Dave."
The movie may tilt a little too young and wholesome for Murphy's "Raw" crowd - it's aimed squarely at a preteen audience, likely to laugh when a miniature Murphy takes refuge next to a hydrant and gets whizzed on by a dog.
Murphy has two roles - the first as the tiny captain of an alien ship sent to Earth to steal our ocean water. The ship (Murphy again) is a human-size replica of the captain, and the jokes center on the captain's attempt to make clunky robot "Dave" pass as a human long enough for the mission to be completed.
Complications arise when exposure to Earth causes the Spock-like aliens to take on human characteristics - they dance, get drunk, fall in love, etc.
The captain, for instance, must deal with the jealous feelings of his first mate (Gabrielle Union), who thinks her boss is getting a little too involved in the life of his new human female pal (Elizabeth Banks).
Fans looking for a "Klumps"-ish display of Murphy's virtuosity will be disappointed. These aren't great roles for him - both the stoic robot and the straight-laced captain keep the versatile comedian in one-dimensional lockdown.
Nor does the story offer many surprises. "Dave" bonds with a single mom and her young son, yielding a scene in which the powerful robot accosts a bully who torments the boy. It's eerily similar to the bit we saw in "Hancock" just last week.
Still, "Meet Dave" does pick up speed in the final moments, when a lame storyline about a beat cop (Scott Caan) who spots Dave as an alien becomes, finally, kind of funny.
There's also some decent "Shrinking Man" stuff when tiny Murphy and Union leave their ship and spend a few perilous moments on the streets of Manhattan.
It's enough to keep smaller kids amused, and the ugly vibe that plagued "Norbit" is thankfully absent. *
Produced by Jon Berg, David T. Friendly, Todd Komarnicki, directed by Brian Robbins, written by Rob Greenberg, Bill Corbett, music by John Debney, distributed by Twentieth-Century Fox.