Meet Dave

A couple of weeks ago I posted a review of I am Number Four, a teen-drama take on aliens living among us.  For a kid-comedy take on aliens, Eddie Murphy comes through with Meet Dave.  Dave is a spaceship designed to look like a human.  Murphy is the spaceship, as well as its captain.  The crew, tiny humanoids with Spock personalities, have come to retrieve an orb that will take the salt from the Earth's oceans, transporting it to their planet.  The orb has ended up in the hands of a little boy in New York.

Dave disembarking from . . . Dave!

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say Eddie Murphy is a comic genius.  Sure, he's been in some not-so-great movies, but he's hilarious and fun to watch in Meet Dave as a spaceship trying to portray itself as human and as an alien trying to reflect American Earth culture.  He's plenty silly, with some gross-out (but kid-friendly) humor.  The story, a passably entertaining alien tale, a la E.T., moves along nicely, but mostly as a vehicle for Murphy's comedy.  Good, clean, family-friendly fun.

Bottom line, 3 stars.