Elizabeth Banks

It’s Eddie Murphy Inside Eddie Murphy in Made-For-Children Sci-Fi Comedy ‘Meet Dave’

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:27:11 -0700

Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – The longtime career of Eddie Murphy has lately taken an interesting turn.

After a meteoric career with huge box-office comedies, Murphy has steered toward more family oriented fare (“Daddy Day Care,” the “Shrek” movies, etc.) before his Oscar-nominated performance in “Dreamgirls”. After the stumble of 2007’s “Norbit,” Murphy has again returned this summer in kid-friendly mode with “Meet Dave”.

Dave (Eddie Murphy) is shocked by some unexpected micro-boogying happening atop his shoulder in “Meet Dave”.
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox

This high-concept, science-fiction comedy involves a giant robotic spaceship that plunges to New York City and is shaped like – well, Eddie Murphy. It’s designed that way to walk among earthlings unobtrusively. It’s controlled by a tiny crew inside the body led by ship captain Eddie Murphy.

Eddie Murphy (left) and Gabrielle Union are pursued by a rubbery object previously unknown to them in “Meet Dave”.
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox

The mission is to retrieve a meteoric orb that their home planet, Nil, sent to Earth to suck up the oceans. As in what usually happens in the movie universe, the orb ends up mistakenly in the hand of a scrappy but sensitive boy (Austin Myers) who naturally lives with his widowed mother (Elizabeth Banks).

Meanwhile, the crew has to assimilate within the strange customs of New York City while keeping their outer space alien composure within the seductive world. They steer the “Dave” spaceship to hook up with the boy’s mother. The race is on to find the orb before the police (or at least the “X-Files” agents) can catch up with them.

The first act of the film has several decent laughs as the crew tries to make the robotic Dave blend in.

The walk, speech and outer shell of Dave is controlled by a flight deck straight out of “Star Trek” with Murphy as the captain doing a variation of his African voice from “Coming to America”. Dave the spaceship also makes several funny faces, actions and verbal gaffes while working to fit in on Earth.

Where the film falters is when it comes back to the plot and all the special effects associated with it. It is the “E.T.” variation done yet again with the earnest kid actor performing his lines as if he’s playing to the back row of the theater.

The strange behavior of the Dave spaceship creates no real chemistry with the mother or the boy even though they are forced through the entire story to gaze and act adoringly toward the dead-eyed alien. The subplot – involving the mutiny of the crew – is too complicated for a film of this type.

RELATED IMAGE GALLERY
View our full, high-resolution “Meet Dave” image gallery.

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More film reviews from critic Patrick McDonald.

It drags the entire story down with it. However, this did give the screenwriters an excuse to camp up the situation. The crew begins to adapt the unique cultural style of America, which apparently consists of misogyny, gay stereotypes and MySpace.

It is a kid’s movie, though, and many of the younger audience members laughed along with it (especially the gay stereotypes). Like the circuits and wires inside the Dave spaceship, it’s useless to try and dissect the elements too closely.

Note: If product placement is what you crave, than “Meet Dave” is the movie for you. Aside from commercials for Old Navy and Apple’s iPods, there were plugs for Google, Yahoo!, Nathan’s Famous hot dogs and most oddly the Broadway musical “A Chorus Line”. Creative financing lives indeed.

“Meet Dave,” which opened everywhere on July 11, 2008, stars Eddie Murphy, Elizabeth Banks, Gabrielle Union, Ed Helms, Austin Myers and Judah Friedlander.

By PATRICK McDONALD
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

‘Definitely, Maybe’ Borrows From Successful Romantic Comedies, Adds Fresh Hook

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:05:05 -0700

CHICAGO – The makers of “Love Actually” and “Notting Hill” know how to do romantic comedy that doesn’t somehow fall into the trap of a formulaic chick flick like “27 Dresses”. “Definitely, Maybe,” which is their latest effort, on the other hand isn’t particularly original and really isn’t very funny.

Isla Fisher in “Definitely, Maybe”.
Photo credit: IMDb

That said, the picture still feels fresh and doesn’t do anything overly cutesy that will elicit groans from the reluctant boyfriends who will be dragged to the film this weekend. So long as you pick a comfortable seat, you’ll have an enjoyable two hours.

Ryan Reynolds plays Will Hayes: the quintessential Manhattan advertising executive. His hectic life gets a little crazier when he’s served with divorce papers.

On top of that, he learns his 10-year-old daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin from “Little Miss Sunshine”), just started sex education in school. She begins asking questions about why his parents can’t stay together and wonders about her father’s romantic history, which leads him to tell the story of the women in his life since the early 1990s.

In most romantic comedies, you know Meg Ryan will be getting together with Tom Hanks in the final scene and you just have to hold on for the ride. “Definitely, Maybe” seems to borrow from TV’s “How I Met Your Mother” and doesn’t immediately reveal who Maya’s mother is or why that woman is divorcing Will.

Adding to that, the viewer knows – despite what happiness comes about in the flashbacks – the character is ultimately going to have to deal with the impending divorce before the movie ends. It’s the elements of mystery mixed with underlying depressing tone set at the beginning that makes this movie more emotionally involved than your run-of-the-mill Valentine’s Day release.

Elizabeth Banks and Ryan Reynolds in “Definitely, Maybe”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Ryan Reynolds is solid and it’s his goofy, lovable looks that sell what would possibly be a dull script. Isla Fisher from “Wedding Crashers” sparkles in every one of her scenes.

Fisher, who is about two seconds from being a box-office draw on her own right, shares the billing for this film with the equally beautiful and gifted Elizabeth Banks and Rachel Weisz.

Kevin Kline plays Weisz’s father: an opinionated, old writer complaining about the state of everything in society.

The film was penned and directed by lovey-dovey film veteran Adam Brooks. Brooks can be credited for “French Kiss” and “Practical Magic” and blamed for “Wimbledon” and “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason”. Most of the elements of this picture feel strongly borrowed from other successful romances.

The locations in the upper west side of New York bring back memories of “You’ve Got Mail” and “Serendipity”. His creative jobs in advertising and politics remind you of “What Women Want” and “When Harry Met Sally”. The soundtrack of Will’s life even includes Badly Drawn Boy, who was last featured on the big screen accompanying another manboy in “About a Boy”.

What makes or breaks a romantic comedy is the ending. While the “Definitely, Maybe” finale doesn’t tread any new ground, it comes across warm without feeling hokey. In the genre that has a spectrum ranging from “Sweetest Thing” to “Annie Hall,” this film clearly falls into the more intelligent side.

The picture makes for a nice Valentine’s Day date that won’t leave the men emasculated. “Definitely, Maybe” gives an enjoyable experience that the audience can walk away from not thinking they’ve found another guilty-pleasure film.

“Definitely, Maybe” opened on Feb. 14, 2008.

Click here for our full “Definitely, Maybe” image gallery!

By DUSTIN LEVELL
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
dustin@hollywoodchicago.com