New comedy fails to 'Deliver'
By Nicole Rodriguez
One would have expected more from a studio that, this year alone, has released such fine films as "The Pianist" and "Far From Heaven," but sadly it appears that Focus Features has released their first flop: a wannabe remake of William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" entitled "Deliver Us From Eva."
A somewhat talented Gabrielle Union ("Bring It On") stars as Eva Dandridge, a tough as nails health inspector who has a tendency to meddle in the lives of her three younger sisters. Whether it is concerning their schooling or their various romances, Eva has a desperate need to control everything that goes on in her sisters' lives. And, in turn, her younger sisters yearn for Eva's all-knowing guidance - much to the chagrin of their three significant others.
Tired of the stress Eva is causing in their lives, the three men decided to hire Ray(James Todd Smith, formerly known as LL Cool J), a well-known ladies man, for the bargain price of $5,000 to charm Eva and get her out of their hair.
Despite her previously man-hating ways, Eva inexplicably falls for the overly cocky Ray so quickly you'll miss it if you blink. And, as the romantic comedy cliche goes, eventually Ray falls for her as well. Only, Eva still doesn't know the truth about the circumstances under which they really met.
Although "Eva" does contain some mildly amusing sequences, the scripting and performances fall flat and uninspired. From the get-go, we are introduced to Eva as a man-hating, career-driven woman, and yet we are expected to believe that she can melt for someone as phony and cheesy as Ray within minutes just because he throws out a couple of romantic cliches. It feels like Eva only falls in love with Ray because the writers required it of her character, not because it was something someone like Eva would actually do in reality.
The film does take one semi-original twist towards the end, when the three significant others decide to intervene on Ray and Eva's relationship. Although I will not reveal the course of action they take, as it is the only semi-surprise in the film, be forewarned that it is in no way funny. In fact, the extremes these men take to try and get rid of Eva border on disturbing.
Although the film is based on a somewhat interesting concept, its execution proves to be poorly acted and even more poorly written. If it's a romantic comedy based on a bet you're looking for this weekend, be sure to check out Paramount's "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" - neither film may be memorable, but at least "10 Days" is funny.