Meet Dave: Critic Reviews

Meet Dave, the latest in a long line of disposable Eddie Murphy vehicles, plays like a half-hour sitcom episode that has been stretched to feature-length running time.

There's a delicious irony to the way in which this supposedly heartwarming comedy gives the impression of having itself been devised by a race of extra-terrestrials with only a tentative grasp of what constitutes heart or humour.

The lackluster title hints at the dull, witless and hackneyed story.

Murphy appears to be on the verge of cracking himself up. This is good news. At least someone found him funny.

Murphy may want to disappear whenever he can, but if he let loose some more, he might not need a facade to hide behind ever again.

Dumbfoundingly erratic, for the most part, but smart and funny from time to time, especially when Mr. Murphy, in the pseudo-person of the spaceship, tries to imitate earthling behavior.

Better material and more adept direction might've made this a perfectly solid commercial enterprise.

The key image is a close-up of Murphy's gleaming choppers, but aside from that the movie is toothless.

In Meet Dave, family-friendly as a Fourth of July picnic, Murphy and Norbit director Brian Robbins redeem themselves with a performance and scenario that might have been developed for Steve Martin.

Even as timewasters go, this is a waste of time.

It's a silly kid's movie, nothing more. But for some, this may be a chance to meet Eddie.

Cynics may expect the worst of another Eddie Murphy vehicle involving extraterrestrials -- insert joke about The Adventures of Pluto Nash here -- but that only makes Meet Dave all the more pleasant a surprise.

There are some laughs here and there, but this is badly edited hack work.

It's not all that funny.

The summer popcorn flick manages to deliver more than the standard sci-fi send-up, thanks to a solid supporting cast -- most of whom come from TV -- that help bolster Murphy's average work.

It's kind of sweet, innocent almost -- kid-friendly in the best sense.

Meet Dave alone may not radically change the course of Eddie Murphy's drooping career. But it is, at least, a little olive branch held out to his audience. And that's better than Nil.

This is made-for-TV material dressed up by Eddie Murphy's participation into a theatrical release.

This sci-fi romp seriously skimps on the sort of wacky comedy that should have flown liberally from such an inspired premise.

Meet Dave. Or don't. Eddie Murphy doesn't particularly seem to care one way or the other.

Eddie Murphy -- was that Oscar nominated performance in Dreamgirls just something I imagined? -- continues to trash his very real talent with bottomfeeding material.

Meet Dave pays lip service to the joys of exploring new worlds, but it never steps off the tour bus.