I think Eddie Murphy missed his comedies. He was waiting to make a comeback just to remind us he’s very good at playing multiple characters and also to prove he is still funny. This time we can see him in “Meet Dave” playing an alien but also the captain of an unusual ship from outer space: Dave himself. The actor really enjoys extreme roles: from the really big Norbit to the 2 inches tall alien….there’s quite a step..ok..a leap.

Although the story line is not very original: aliens who come to Earth to steal our natural resources in order to save their home planet; the humor comes to the rescue. The alien crew creates Dave Ming Chang who looks like a human being but is just a machine and tries to control his moves so he doesn’t look suspicious. At first, his moves are a little stiff and weird…and funny. Also, the white “Saturday Night Fever” suit he’s wearing is not really helping him mingle. He manages to avoid all questions regarding his weird moves and the fact that he doesn’t know anything about New York, America..or Earth for that matter by simply saying “I don’t get out much.”

The small creatures, that come from the Planet Nill to find an orb which will suck the salt water from the oceans in order to be used by Nillians, are very serious at the beginning but, as they get to spend more time on Earth among people, they start to resemble them: a black crewman, played by Kevin Hart, gets exposed to the “academic language” of hip-hop and embellishes his vocabulary, another crew member, played by Pat Kilbane, watches “A Chorus Line” and becomes gay and an engineer(Judah Friedlander) makes friends on MySpace. So…human behavior is contagious.

While he tries to be human, Dave begins to experience some unusual feelings regarding Gina Morrison, a single mom played by Elizabeth Banks. The mini- Dave aka the captain of the crew, also played by Eddie Murphy, is secretly fancied by his cultural officer (Gabrielle Union).

Although Dave makes some friends and handles things somewhat carefully, the situation becomes more complicated when a New York officer Dooley (Scott Caan) becomes suspicious and he has all the reasons to get like that, especially when a little alien from Dave’s ear falls into Dooley’s coffee cup.

It’s funny again how the whole action happens in New York…more specifically Manhattan. Well, at least it’s good to know that in case of a real invasion, the aliens will come to America first.

As for the actors’ performances…they definitely nailed their parts. Gabrielle Union remains serious until the end, Elizabeth Banks is very feminine and graceful and Eddie Murphy is indeed funny. He’s not going to win an Oscar but it is sure to win many laughs..and money.

“Meet Dave:” Comedy

MPAA rating: PG for bawdy and suggestive humor, action and some language.
Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Starring Eddie Murphy, Elizabeth Banks, Gabrielle Union and Scott Caan
Directed by: Brian Robbins
Written by: Rob Greenberg and Bill Corbett
Release Date: 11 July