Meet Dave

  • Review Date: November 23, 2008
  • PG
  • Genre: Comedy
  • 2008
 Review

Common Sense Media says

Not as crass as Norbit, but as forgettable.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that although this Eddie Murphy comedy is mostly inoffensive, the alien characters display some off-putting stereotypes about gay men, women, and African Americans. The jokes aren't crass -- they're just cliched and stupid (for example, liking showtunes means you're flamboyantly homosexual, being black means you love rap, etc.). Otherwise, there's some scatological humor, a couple scenes of mild violence, some mild drinking and language, and a whole lot of product placements.

  • On the one hand, aliens realize that Earthlings aren't all evil and worth destroying, and a timid boy acts courageously. But on the other hand, there are several off-putting sterotypes: After hearing a showtune, one alien exhibits flamboyant homosexual stereotypes; a female alien starts trashtalking about other women's weight; a black alien starts listening to rap, commenting on women's behinds, etc.
  • "Dave" gets struck by a car, and his "ankle" looks broken. There's an armed takeover of the Dave spaceship and a shootout between Dave and the NYPD. An alien tries to destroy earth, but it's more comical than scary.
  • Mild flirting, hugging, and one kiss. An alien remarks on a woman's behind.
  • Mild: "damn it," "ass," etc.
  • One scene is practically an Old Navy commercial; another takes place in an Apple store. There are several references to Internet companies like Google, Yahoo!, MySpace, etc. Other product placements include Heinz ketchup and the Broadway musical A Chorus Line.
  • Adults have mojitos at a restaurant; aliens consume the alcohol that "Dave" drinks.

What's the story?

Eddie Murphy is the captain of a crew of miniature aliens that arrive on Earth in a ship formed exactly like a human-sized Eddie Murphy. On a mission to find a lost orb that can drain the oceans of salt, the human-like ship is accidentally struck by a single mother's (Elizabeth Banks) car. It turns out the driver's son knows who has the orb, so the alien-filled ship, now called "Dave Ming Chang," hangs out with the two humans until the rock can be retrieved. But the more the aliens are around humans, the less willing some of them are to rid Earth of its oceans.


Is it any good?

 

DAVE's ludicrous plot doesn't really matter. What does matter is why director Brian Robbins and Murphy reunited (Norbit was their last collaboration) for another completely forgettable, formulaic movie. There's no doubt that Murphy is a gifted comedian. So it's sad to see that he apparently gives zero thought to his film choices, making any comedy that will get his face on a billboard.

The tiny-aliens idea starts somewhat originally, but the jokes quickly turn to the stupid and stereotypical: A crew member sees a minute of the Broadway show A Chorus Line and starts acting flamboyantly gay, a black alien starts rapping and staring at women's behinds, the engineer becomes obsessed with social networking. And then there's the scene in which "Dave" excretes cash in an Old Navy dressing room. Is that the best that humanity has to offer?


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about what humans teach the miniature aliens. How does being on Earth affect them? How do Gina and Josh change from knowing Dave? Discuss some of the stereotypical behavior in the film. Is it offensive or funny?


This review was written by Sandie Angulo Chen
Teen, 15 years old
December 31, 2009
 
STUPID !
This movie has three (awkward) funny scenes. That's it the rest is EXTREMELY STUPID ! It was so stupid I didn't even finish it because it was so stupid ! I wanted to see this so much that when it was on I was really surprised on what I saw that it was I stopped after 20 - 30 minutes it started because it was so STUPID ! Eddie Murphy did a really terrible job in this movie and in "Imagine That"! JUST SKIP THIS FILM ,BUT IF YOU DO IT'S IFFY FOR AGES 9+,NO ONE FOR AGES 8 AND UNDER !THIS IS IFFY FOR AGES 9+ ,NOT AGES 8 AND UNDER because it has two cuss words and that's it. Whatever you do SKIP THIS MOVIE ! JUST PLEASE SKIP THIS MOVIE NOW !

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Teen, 15 years old
June 13, 2009
 
It's funny and entertaining the only thing that may concern others is a character turns out to be gay .

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Teen, 14 years old
August 25, 2011
 
Wait A Little More
I thought the jokes were funny and as far as I know, they weren't sexual. There IS moderate language and some crazy violence. You might wanna wait for your young child to grow more before shoing them Meet Dave.

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Teen, 15 years old
May 21, 2011
 
This movie makes me LOL!
This movie is hilarious! Eddie Murphy cracks me up and he is also funny too!

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Parent of 8 and 10 year old
February 14, 2011
 
Neat premise, but inappropriate content for younger kids
The idea of a human-sized robot with tiny people running it from within is one almost every kid has imagined, so this movie touches a spot in the modern collective unconscious dead-on. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of wit or wisdom it how it extrapolates the premise. Even worse, along they way, there's some jokes playing off racial and sexual stereotypes that really don't belong in sub-PG-13 territory. Those may zip past littler kids, but you may find yourself having to explain to older pre-teens what's funny (or not) about an African-American bugging his eyes out at a woman's backside and yelling "Daaamn!" or a tough guy who, after watching about ten seconds of a musical, develops a lisp and a fashion obsession. Politically incorrect jokes may have a place, but probably really not in your younger kids video library.

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Adult
April 26, 2009
 

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Kid, 13 years old
January 7, 2010
 
great if you need a laught
A truely halerious movie i couldnt stop laugthing. the violent bits like he gets hit by a car, arent violent at all dave isnt even get hurt!!! =)

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Kid, 12 years old
July 27, 2010
 
some kids that are under 11 and 10 cant understand some of the content

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Kid, 13 years old
January 21, 2010
 
hilarious
This is hilarious! Eddie Murphy was awesome!

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Teen, 14 years old
January 1, 2010
 
Complete epic fail!
This movie was probably one of the worst movies I've seen in my life. It was so stupid and terrible. The jokes were by far lame and not funny. I wish one concern you could put was stupid or terrible movie. Don't waste your money or time on this garbage. The only reason you might laugh is at the bad acting, terrible jokes, and bad script. CSM had it right, Meet Dave is forgetable.

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This review was written by Sandie Angulo Chen
Topics:robots, space and aliens
Studio:Twentieth Century Fox
Director:Brian Robbins
Cast:Eddie Murphy, Elizabeth Banks, Gabrielle Union
Genre:Comedy
Run time:95 minutes
Theatrical release date:July 11, 2008
DVD release date:November 24, 2008
MPAA rating:PG
MPAA explanation:bawdy and suggestive humor, action and some language.

This review was written by Sandie Angulo Chen
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

 

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