Review of:Deliver Us From Eva (2003)
Director:Gary Hardwick
Rating:R for sex-related dialogue
Starring:Gabrielle Union, LL Cool J, Essence Atkins, Robinne Lee, Meagan Good
Right away you realize that the title of the film is a play on words. "Deliver us from Eva," ha, they really mean, "Deliver us from evil," right? These play on words might be the most original thing about this movie about a woman who can exact hell on any who get in her way.
Gabrielle Union (Bring It On) stars as Eva Dandridge the tough as nails woman who has it all, except someone to share her life with. Maybe it doesn't help that she has three sisters that put the b in beautiful (Essence Atkins, Robinne Lee, Meagan Good). To match their outward beauty each has uniqueness about them that shines through. These Dandridge sisters have survived all of this time by depending upon one another through thick and thin. Especially Eva who has had to be the rock of Gibraltar to get her family to the point that they are at.
Like everything else things change and over time it does also with the Dandridge sisters. The only thing that hasn't changed is that Eva is still dominating the lives of her sisters. The hardest thing for Eva to do is to go from mother mode to sister mode.
The three men who are involved with the Dandridge sister are tired of the interference of the elder Dandridge and devise a plan to occupy her time. They enlist the services of Ray Adams (LL Cool J) to sweep her off of her feet. In the battle of ultimate playboy against Eva there can only be laughter and mayhem as they eventually realize important things about themselves, and each other.
Director Gary Hardwick (The Brothers) tries to bring about a cohesive film that delivers from all angles. This story is about the upliftment of women over the everyday trap falls that can befall a woman in life and love. It is a good try but there is not enough time spent on the background of the characters to actually understand why they act the way they do. The acting of LL shines through as he basically portrays himself the way millions of fans do, "The Man".
Gabrielle Union is the star of this show and she fails in her attempt to turn around a story that had holes in it from the beginning. The background cast brings a bit of laughter to the script and provides the best attempts at laughter.
