Meet Dave

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Rating: PG

Starring:
Eddie Murphy as Dave Ming Cheng / The Captain
Elizabeth Banks as Gina Morrison
Gabrielle Union as No. 3 – Cultural Officer
Scott Caan as Officer Dooley
Ed Helms as No. 2 – 2nd In Command
Kevin Hart as No. 17
Mike O’Malley as Officer Knox
Pat Kilbane as No. 4 – Security Officer
Judah Friedlander as Engineer
Marc Blucas as Mark Rhodes
Jim Turner as Doctor
Austyn Myers as Josh Morrison
Adam Tomei as No. 35
Brian Huskey as Lieutenant Right Arm
Shawn Christian as Lieutenant Left Arm

Special Features:
Gag Reel
Crew Confessions Featurette

Other Info:
Widescreen (1.85:1) and Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
French and Spanish Language Tracks
French and Spanish Subtitles
Running Time: 90 Minutes

Synopsis:
The following is from the official DVD description:

” He’s A Spaceship… And Out Of This World!

It’s not that he’s clumsy, shy or dressed for disco that makes Dave Ming Chang (Eddie Murphy) stand out from everyone else in New York City. It’s that he’s an alien! More accurately, he’s an alien ship, on a mission to Earth to save his home planet. Torn between the voices in his head – a tiny alien crew led by a high-strung, miniature version of himself – and the world around him, Dave struggles to appear normal. But when he falls for an Earth woman, the consequences are hilarious.”

“Meet Dave” is rated PG for bawdy and suggestive humor, action and some language.

Mini-Review:
“Meet Dave” hit theaters then pretty much disappeared almost immediately. As if the trailers and posters weren’t enough to make this movie look questionable, the box office failure probably confirmed to you that it wasn’t any good. So is it really that bad?

“Meet Dave” has a pretty entertaining concept. The idea that a group of tiny aliens are operating a human sized robot / spaceship is funny. The film also has a good cast. It features the beautiful and funny Elizabeth Banks, the funny Ed Helms from “The Office,” Scott Caan, Gabrielle Union, and a bunch of other supporting characters. Despite all this, the execution is where it all falls apart.

One of the major problems of the film is that it is a one joke concept. Seeing Eddie Murphy act weirdly is funny at first, but wears on over time. The same goes with the repeated joke of the aliens trying to figure out Earth culture, breaking out of their straight-laced upbringing, etc. It’s amusing at first but it never builds on it or ventures into other territory. I don’t think I laughed out loud once during this film.

I do think that this film has an audience – kids. My 3-year-old was in the room as I watched “Meet Dave” and he’d periodically freeze at whatever he was doing and watch it. Days later he was talking about it with people who had no idea what he was referring to. (I had to explain.) The film is fairly clean as far as I remember, so I think marketing this to children is the studio’s best bet. But that should also tell you something – adults more than likely won’t enjoy it.

Unless you’ve got kids you have to entertain, I recommend you just pass on “Meet Dave” and go watch “Men in Black” or some other Eddie Murphy movie instead.

The bonus features are almost nonexistent. You’ll find a Gag Reel and a Crew Confessions Featurette. In this, the crew of the ship rather awkwardly explain their characters and their histories. There’s no sign of Eddie anywhere.