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DELIVER
US FROM EVA Rating:  Director: Gary Hardwick Producer: Paddy Cullen Writers: James Iver Mattson, B.E. Brauner, Gary Hardwick Director of Photography: Alexander Gruszynski Cast: Gabrielle Union, LL Cool J aka James Todd Smith, Duane Martin, Essence Atkins Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew. |
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Review by: Kim
Justice
2/4/03
Only Gabrielle Union can deliver this movie from the "been there, done that" mine field that is the African-American Romantic Comedy. And even she cannot create the miracle necessary to make this film stand out from director Gary Hardwick's other film, The Brothers (in which Union also starred), or its - pardon the pun - brothers such as The Best Man or Love & Basketball.
In Deliver Us From Eva, Gabrielle Union plays Eva, an updated version of the "shrew" made famous by the Shakespeare play "The Taming of the Shrew." When her parents died, Eva became mother and father to her three sisters, sacrificing her own happiness for theirs, and, in the course of events, became the devil woman we meet in the movie. Eva is everything to her sisters, including the advice queen, which is fine and dandy until men enter the picture. Those men would be the husbands and boyfriend of her dear sisters who feel like they're in a relationship built for three since Eva pokes her nose into everything, including a decision whether or not to have children.
Dying to get some breathing space with their respective girls, the guys decide something must be done about Eva. When the three are out one night, one of them, Mike (Duane Martin), happens to run into an old "playa" friend of his named Ray (LL Cool J aka James Todd Smith). Mike convinces Ray to date Eva, for a fee. Surprise, surprise, the player ends up falling for the woman he's being paid to date.
The only reason I gave this movie 3 stars is because of Gabrielle Union's (Bring it On, She's All That) performance. She is almost mesmerizing as Eva, at least in her ultimate b**** form. As she begins to loosen up after finding love with Ray, she loses a lot of her edge, and therefore, a lot of the interesting parts of the character. Until then, of course, she's a joy to watch, and I have to give the writers a bit of credit for coming up with some of her insane rants.
The only other update of the old Shakespearean play that I've seen is 10 Things I Hate About You. Where 10 Things opened my eyes to the potential of the as-yet-unknown-to-most Heath Ledger, Deliver Us From Eva manages to do the same for the up-and-coming Union, standing out amongst the drudgery that is this movie. She carries this film, and she does it as well as she can with what she's given.
Overall, the movie isn't as funny or even as interesting as The Brothers. Some of the script is original, but the scenery, the shots, and even most of the acting is so ho-hum it doesn't bear mention. Not bad, but not outstanding. Maybe Hardwick ought to try doing different movies each time out. Just because it sort of worked with your directorial debut doesn't guarantee lightning will strike twice. I also think casting LL / James wasn't the best idea. He hasn't reached the talent level Union has soared to, which served only to make Union look better, and, consequently, LL / James worse. The supporting cast was fine overall. The real standout there is Kim Whitley as the hairstylist Ormandy. She's hilarious every second she's onscreen, which might explain why the best scenes took place in the beauty salon.
But, dang, I just left the theater feeling… nothing. Well, greater respect for Union, but, nothing else. I would suggest people see this film if they like Gabrielle, because she shines. I'd even suggest you see it if you don't like or even know Union, because she shines, but wait to rent it on video.
In other words, Union gets a big thumbs up, but Eva… well, it just didn't deliver.
(A Focus Features release. Opens in wide release on February 7, 2003.)
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