The worst sci-fi comedy since, well, since Eddie Murphy made The Adventures of Pluto Nash.
Meet Dave (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:95
Fresh:18
Rotten:77
Average Rating:4.1/10
Consensus: Easy gags and slack direction drag this occasionally clever alien-out-of-planet comedy down to unimaginative lows.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for bawdy and suggestive humor, action and some language.
Runtime: 90 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Jul 11, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $11,644,832
Synopsis: Actor-turned-director Brian Robbins (VARSITY BLUES, THE PERFECT SCORE) is at the helm of comedian Eddie Murphy's alien adventure, MEET DAVE. Murphy stars as the minuscule captain of an alien... Actor-turned-director Brian Robbins (VARSITY BLUES, THE PERFECT SCORE) is at the helm of comedian Eddie Murphy's alien adventure, MEET DAVE. Murphy stars as the minuscule captain of an alien spaceship that lands on Earth in the shape of a human being that looks just like him. The tiny crew is responsible for making the spaceship look and act like a human being as they search for a powerful orb that went off course and landed in Manhattan. Along the way, the captain--aka Dave--is befriended by Josh (Austyn Lind Myers), a fifth-grade boy who is being raised by his artist mother, Gina (Elizabeth Banks), since the death of his heroic Naval officer father. Although Dave and his crew land on Earth believing that the human race is inferior, they soon realize that there is something to be said for emotions, feelings, and friendship. The fun in this film lies in watching the spaceship Murphy try to assimilate as a human. His exaggerated facial expressions are priceless, and his skill at physical comedy is apparent throughout the film. Dave is a sponge soaking up everything around him. The crew's attempts to understand human culture are also amusing, as they get most of their cultural information from Google and Yahoo. Gabrielle Union stars as No. 3, the cultural officer, while Ed Helms is No 2., the second in command who thinks that his captain is adapting to Earth way too easily. Kevin Hart is No. 17, the crew member charged with dealing with many of the spaceship's internal functions. [More]
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Elizabeth Banks, Gabrielle Union, Scott Caan
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Elizabeth Banks, Gabrielle Union, Scott Caan, Ed Helms, Kevin Hart
Director: Brian Robbins
Director: Brian Robbins
Screenwriter: Rob Greenberg, Bill Corbett
Producer: Jon Berg, Todd Komarnicki, David T. Friendly
Composer: John Debney
Studio: 20th Century Fox
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Release:
Nov 25, 2008
Reviews for Meet Dave
If you think Eddie Murphy lost his mojo about 20 years ago and has been lacking clear comedic judgment ever since, then you've got to see this for confirmation. Or maybe not.
Meet Dave. Or don't. Eddie Murphy doesn't particularly seem to care one way or the other.
The new film is mildly amusing family entertainment, but when discussing the career of one of our most seasoned comic actors, "mildly amusing" can only be regarded as a letdown.
It's comedy that doesn't ask anyone, onscreen or in the audience, to try too hard.
Meet Dave is one of those films that will get a bad reputation based on the trailers but it actually generated a few chuckles from my end and was not a complete waste of time.
Murphy's best moments here only remind us of "Coming to America," another fish-out-of-water story. These days, Murphy seems like a fish out of water as an actor on screen.
Murphy appears to be on the verge of cracking himself up. This is good news. At least someone found him funny.
Murphy, both as Dave and the ship’s captain is in good form mugging for laughs and getting a few.
The key image is a close-up of Murphy's gleaming choppers, but aside from that the movie is toothless.
Better material and more adept direction might've made this a perfectly solid commercial enterprise.
If anything in Meet Dave surprises you, you've never seen a family movie before. Instead, go to the movie only for Murphy, whose talents really shine in this role.
Isn't an awful film because it's Eddie Murphy, it's awful because most of the "comedy" presented is flat, lacking in any hint of timing, and is dated by about thirty years...
No matter how many laughs Murphy and the gang manage to squeeze out of this concept, there's still the story which, couldn't possibly be more poorly executed.
You'd expect to see chinzty-looking visual like this in one of those made-for-Sci-Fi-Channel cheese-fests not in a major studio release.
Latest News for Meet Dave
January 21, 2009:
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September 02, 2008:
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The summer movie season of 2008 ended last weekend, and boy, was it a good one. Led by box office smashes like Iron Man, Wall-E, and The Dark Knight, Hollywood raked in the... More...
August 12, 2008:
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July 15, 2008:
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Buried in bad reviews and ignored by moviegoers, Meet Dave will go down as one of the biggest flops of the summer. How did it happen, and what's next for Eddie Murphy's career? More...
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