Deliver Us from Eva (2003)

There's a lot to enjoy here, but ultimately one serious error prevents me from giving a rating of "7".Although he's not a particularly great actor, it's hard not to enjoy LL Cool J, who here plays 'Ray', a blue collar worker who thinks of himself as a playa, but then actually falls in love.I have long thought that not only is Gabrielle Union a really good actress, but also one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. Her acting is fine, although there are issues with character continuity...but that's the fault of the writers and director.Duane Martin is very good as the boyfriend of one of Union's sisters. I enjoyed him here; not sure why he has not been more successful.The ladies who play the sisters of Union did not particularly impress me, although they did their jobs. Essence Atkins, Robinne Lee, and Meagan Good. Mel Jackson is good as one of the husbands, while Dartanyan Edmonds had a rather short career which pretty much ended after this film...and rightfully so. Royale Watkins is interesting as a gay hair dresser. The problems here come with the script. Overall, its' a good premise -- Union is the pitchy oldest sister who is somewhat controlling of her sisters' lives...and of their husbands and boyfriends. And so, the husbands/boyfriend plot to get Union out of their hair by hiring the suave LL to romance her off her feet and out of their lives. Okay, that's good. One problem is that pitchy people don't suddenly become nice just because they're in love. So there's a continuity problem with Union's character. But the big letdown for me was the scene where the husbands/bf kidnap LL and stage a fake funeral. Before that the film had a problem deciding whether or not it was really a comedy, but then this just got ridiculous. So while I liked the film, I also thought it had some major problems.

I never got a chance to go see this movie when it hit the theaters. I rented it not knowing what to expect. After watching it on DVD, I can say that I would not have minded paying the price of the movie ticket to see this movie. It's not all that glamorous, but what it is is a nice feel-good, respectable movie. Gabrielle Union does a nice job playing a rude, obnoxious, man-hating sister by the name of Eva. At times she takes it over the top, but that's acting and that's what she gets paid to do. Eva is bent on taking care of her little sister's who all lean to her for advice instead of their men. The sister's love Eva and listen to her as if her word were the gospel. The men, on the other hand, hate her guts and want nothing more than to see her leave town. She often interferes with her sisters' relationships and makes it a point to drive her sisters' men crazy. So, in order to bring proper order to their respected relationships the men plot to get Eva out of their lives. Thus the need for Ray (LL Cool J). Ray is a smooth-talking playa with serious game. The men talk Ray into dating Eva to get her out of their lives. Ray agrees and thus the story begans with two people falling in love with each other that weren't supposed to fall in love. That's when things get messy for Ray and Eva. Some parts of the movie were a little outrageous and the ending was not the best, but all in all it was still a pretty good movie. I've read some of the reviews on this movie and other movies as well. My thing is that if you want real life situations, go watch a drama or a real life story. This is comedy...comedy's not supposed to be real. It's really an escape from reality. Don't we all need that right about now? Anyway, besides the ending, this movie was well done with the supporting actors doing a great job of playing out their respected roles. Furthermore, the women in this movie are pretty fine. Also, LL did a nice job playing Ray. I have a lot of respect for him as an actor. He didn't over play his part, but he made it believable.

I caught this movie on cable the other night never hearing about it before and I was pleasantly surprised by this well-made and highly entertaining film.Three friends hire a Romeo (Cool Jay) type "player" to try to romance and dump the ultimate "dragon lady" (Eva) who manipulates their women and eat up and spits out men without a thought. The idea is that the Romeo will dump Eva making her leave and then they can have control over their women and their lives.Not to give anything away but the longer Cool Jay "romances" Eva, he finds himself forgetting his purpose and falling for Eva. Also, as Cool Jay gets closer to Eva, life only gets worse for the three friends that hired him, much to their chagrin.Cool Jay gives an excellent and believable performance as the "player" and the actress that plays Eva is also perfect. There are several hilarious scenes that had me laughing out loud. The "Women only" club that is the beauty parlor has several enjoyable scenes as well.

If you like LL Cool J, then this movie is for you. It was pretty good and had some funny moments. Most of which come from the smart mouth comments made by no-nonsense Eva. There are also some good gossip scenes at the beauty shop. The story is nothing original; you know exactly where it is going. Of course, the player falls for the girl whose heart he is supposed to break. They just made a mistake at the end by having a really cheesy, knight comes riding in on a white horse, type of moment. It was too hollywood and didn't really go with the rest of the film.FINAL VERDICT: There is no mystery with this movie. It is what it is. So, if you like mildly funny moments with a stereotypical romantic plot, then you may want to give this a try.