Meet Dave
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Whimsical comedy in which the tiny captain (Eddie Murphy) of a human-shaped alien spaceship (also Murphy) gains the help of a kindhearted young New York widow (Elizabeth Banks) and her bullied 11-year-old son (Austyn Lynd Myers) in his quest to save his home planet. Director Brian Robbins' film relies entirely on the single joke of Murphy's abject social awkwardness, but along the way celebrates generosity, human decency and the heroic potential of seemingly ordinary people. Some mild scatological humor, a sexual reference and a brief profanity. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG) 2008
Eddie Murphy plays both a tiny alien and the human-shaped spaceship he captains in the whimsical comedy "Meet Dave" (20th Century Fox/Regency).
After a baseball-size device designed to save their imperiled world goes astray, winding up in the New York apartment of kindhearted young widow Gina Morrison (Elizabeth Banks) and her 11-year-old son, Josh (Austyn Lynd Myers), a crew from the planet Nil arrives on Earth.
Their efforts to pass their "rocket" Dave off as an everyday guy while retrieving the vital instrument are guided by their cultural officer's (Gabrielle Union) assiduous use of Google.
Appareled in a white suit and black tie -- inspired by Ricardo Montalban's attire in the only broadcast ever to reach Nil, "Fantasy Island" -- Dave commits one strange solecism after another, drinking ketchup from the bottle, scrambling eggs along with their shells and mistaking a stuffed animal for an intergalactic enemy. Still, he manages to win Gina's friendship and Josh's admiration, instilling self-confidence in the undersized, often bullied boy.
Plot complications include the cultural officer's jealousy of Gina, the resentment of the captain's second-in-command (Ed Helms) and earnest police officer Dooley's (Scott Caan) determination to prove Dave's extraterrestrial identity. Dave's emotionless crew members, meanwhile, begin to loosen up, becoming "infected" by human individuality.
As scripted by Rob Greenberg and Bill Corbett, director Brian Robbins' film relies entirely on the single joke of Murphy's abject social awkwardness, and reactions will depend on viewers' appreciation for the star's sustained physical comedy and manic mugging. But there are nods along the way to generosity, human decency and the heroic potential of seemingly ordinary people.
The film contains some mild scatological humor, a sexual reference and a brief profanity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic
merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating,
the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief
synopsis of the movie.
The classifications are as follows:
- A-I -- general patronage;
- A-II -- adults and adolescents;
- A-III -- adults;
- A-IV**
- L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
- O -- morally offensive.
** Discontinued classification. All archived movies that were originally in the A-IV category are now classified as L.