Meet Dave

Rating PG Formats DVD Genre comedy Starring Eddie Murphy, Elizabeth Banks, Gabrielle Union, Ed Helms Directed by Brian Robbins Publisher 20th Century Fox

Eddie Murphy stars in Meet Dave as a teeny-tiny captain of an alien spaceship that has landed in the middle of Manhattan.  His team has come in the form of a human man, looking exactly like their captain, in which the team is responsible for making look and act like a normal person while it searches for a mysterious orb that could potentially save their own planet, Nil.   The crew believes the human race to be somewhat inferior, this being based on where they are getting their information from (Google and Yahoo), but when Dave finds friends in Josh (Austyn Lind Myers), a young kid and his mother, Gina (Elizabeth Banks) he starts to realize the importance of emotions, friendship, and love.   

However, Captain Dave isn’t the only one experiencing human emotions.  As more time is spent on Earth, other members of the crew start feeling “different”, as No. 3 (Gabrielle Union) realizes she could be in love and No. 2 (Ed Helms) has turned angry and jealous.  No. 4 (Pat Kilbane) is by far the most amusing transformation, completely embracing his feelings after watching a clip from “A Chorus Line”. 

The film, directed by Brian Robbins is worth a few laughs as we watch the alien crew try to make their ship function as a human in day-to-day situations.  Dave sleeping on the sidewalk with a homeless man, winning a hot dog eating contest by consuming 85 hotdogs in less than minute, and being hit by a car without a scratch on him are just some of the bizarre situations he finds himself in.  

Although some of the special effects were sub-par, Murphy’s over the top facial expressions and exaggerated physical movements are entertaining as well as his bemusing portrayal of the human race.