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At its best, Deliver Us From Eva tells a cute, if cliched, tale; at its worst, the film's humor is an equal-opportunity offender.
By PHILIP BOOTH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 6, 2003
In Deliver Us From Eva, rapper/actor LL Cool J, yet again, is an appealing leading man in an otherwise disappointing movie. When it comes to trumping his colleagues and the script at hand, he's turning into a repeat offender (see last year's Rollerball, 2001's Kingdom Come and 1999's Deep Blue Sea).
This time, he tops a fair-to-middling cast, directed and co-written by Gary Hardwick (The Brothers) in an African-American comedy that delivers a new wrinkle on an old plot: A man and a woman, thrown together under false pretenses, nevertheless fall in love, wreaking havoc on the dastardly plans of others.
A handsome ladies' man, a truck driver named Jay (LL Cool J) is hired to catch the attention of Eva (Gabrielle Union, Abandon), a tough health inspector and enthusiastic church choir leader with an active second career as a meddler in family affairs. Jay's employers, who are paying him $5,000 plus expenses for the job, are the mates of Eva's three younger sisters.
Eva's siblings -- Kareenah (Essence Atkins), Bethany (Robinne Lee) and Jacqui (Meagan Good) -- barely can make decisions without the advice of their A-personality big sis, who became the woman of the family after their parents' death in a car crash.
Eva can't stop herself from nosing into relationships, barging unannounced into others' bedrooms, and generally being a bossy bully. The sisters' significant others -- Mike (Duane Martin), Tim (Mel Jackson) and Darrell (Dartanyan Edmonds) -- take action after Eva forces the men to abandon a TV football game so the women can gather for a book group.
The hired lover takes Eva to upscale restaurants, goes horseback riding with her, and refuses to be intimidated by her overbearing ways. The upshot: He develops feelings for her. Less than hilarious complications ensue.
This battle of the sexes, unfortunately, is an equal opportunity offender, with mildly offensive portrayals of both genders: The women are shrews or doormats, and the men are generally boorish and manipulative. That, apparently, is comedy.
Grade: C
Director: Gary Hardwick
Cast: LL Cool J, Gabrielle Union, Essence Atkins, Mel Jackson
Screenplay: James Iver Mattson, B.E. Brauner, Gary Hardwick
Rating: R; sensuality, sex-related language
Running time: 105 min.