DELIVER US FROM EVA

A film review by Joe Rickey

A woman has trouble meeting men, so her friends set her up with a man they paid to go out with her. To the surprise of all, he starts to fall in love with her. Deliver Us from Eva, starring LL Cool J (Rollerball, Kingdom Come, Deep Blue Sea) and Gabrielle Union (Abandon, Love and Basketball, Bring it On), along with having an excruciatingly horrible title, is a predictable and altogether boring excuse for a romantic comedy. Gary Hardwick (The Brothers) directs the dull film.

Deliver Us from Eva is essentially a Afrian American version of Maid in Manhattan and Two Weeks Notice with clichéd romantic situations seen countless times already popping up and the characters speaking inane dialog. The film's clichéd plot signifies everything that is wrong with the film. The only real difference between this film and Maid/Two Weeks is that this film carries an R rating because the film's idea of jokes are sex related but they are still really stupid in their pure inanity. The jokes are formulaic and unpleasant at times because of the lengths they go at attempting to be crudely funny. The jokes are simply too mean-spirited and pointless and mediocre to be impressive. The script is banal and unimaginative to a fault. The a priori conclusion doesn't help any either.

The technical credits are also sub par with some of the film appearing to be a student film instead of a major studio release. The cinematography is shoddy and the music is incessant in its attempt to be hip. The film's total lack of anything resembling good timing also plays into the ultimate lack of real humor present in Deliver Us from Eva. The pace is also unfortunately awkward for the most part and is quite strange how the film tries to be inventive in its pacing but ends up becoming even dumber than it already was.

The film does have the talents of Union and LL Cool J who lend the material more gravity and charm than it rightfully deserves through their performances. They act well at the service of such a lousy script though it is unfortunate that there couldn't have been a solid script to back up the actors and then maybe the film could have been a good entry in the romantic comedy genre. The actors are brimming with life but nowhere to go and nothing interesting to do. The supporting cast is equally competent.

Overall, Deliver Us from Eva could be called Deliver Viewers from a Turgid, Rather Disgusting and predictable script. Not recommended.

Rating: 70/b>

joe@currentlyplaying.com