Movie review: Meet Dave

by Alex Bentley

Can it be true? A live action Eddie Murphy movie that’s – gasp – funny? Of course, “funny” is a relative term. With the string of non-Shrek/non-Dreamgirls films that Murphy has put together since, well, the early ‘90s, anything that’s not downright offensive can be viewed as a success.

And so it is with Meet Dave, a movie that surprises not by bowling you over with hilarity but by not overindulging in the low-brow jokes that would seem to be right in its wheelhouse. Murphy plays Dave, who is actually a mothership in the form of a human that tiny 1-inch tall aliens (led by Murphy as the captain) have used to come to Earth. They are searching for a meteor that had been sent to Earth that’s designed to suck the oceans dry in order to collect salt, a material that will save their home world (yeah, it doesn’t make much sense, and, yeah, the fact that the meteor comes down on land instead of in an ocean, which only covers 75 percent of the planet, is a bit of a stretch, but just roll with it).

Whether the alien plot succeeds or not is beside the point; the more important factor is how funny Murphy looks as the robot/mothership trying to adapt to “life” as a human and the reaction of the crew in trying to control Dave. The crew is diverse and funny in their own right. Ed Helms of The Office/The Daily Show fame is #2, and even though there are a couple of #2/butt jokes at his expense, most of his gags come via his trademark uptight nature. Gabrielle Union plays #3, who has to watch on longingly as the Captain uses the mothership doppelganger to woo Gina (Elizabeth Banks).

Given the fact that the alien crew is operating a de facto human body, one could see how the writers/producers/director would be tempted to go hog wild with bodily function jokes. However, they more often than not decide to take the relative high road, choosing instead to find humor in Murphy’s facial expressions and body movements. Murphy is more than up to the task – after years of hiding underneath massive layers of latex in The Nutty Professor movies and Norbit, he’s finally found a way to express his funny side without resorting to fat jokes.

Of course, Meet Dave is by no means an overwhelming success. The “plot” is just an excuse to laugh at Dave’s attempts at adapting to the new world. The children in the film are uniformly awful actors, starting with Austyn Myers as Josh, Gina’s son, whose first problem (among many others) is that he spells “Austyn” with a “y.” And the writers seem to love a gay joke a little too much, as once they grab hold of it in the form of one of the crew members, they never let go and drive it into the ground no matter what the cost.

But considering the quality of other comedies this year and the low expectations Murphy has brought about with his recent films, Meet Dave is – dare I say? – pretty entertaining. It won’t win any awards, but it’s definitely better than The Love Guru and You Don’t Mess With the Zohan.