Eddie Murphy does three types of films – voice over work as Donkey in Shrek, bad movies such as last years Norbit, and fun family movies such as Doctor Dolittle.  Murphy’s latest movie comes in the form of Meet Dave and it falls squarely into the “fun family movie” category.

Meet Dave. Dave is not human at all. It seems that Dave is really a spaceship crewed by star fleet personnel from the planet Nill. This crew, lead by their Captain (Eddie Murphy) was trained in Earth culture by studying information found on Google and Yahoo. They have a lot to learn.

When accidentally hitting Dave with her car, Gina Morrison (Elizabeth Banks) and son Josh (Austyn Myers) befriend Dave as he tries to assimilate into Earth’s culture and environment. Dave is on a mission of locating an orb that was sent from Nill to Earth and not heard from since.

Eddie Murphy plays two roles and is excellent in both forms. His first role is that of the ship’s captain and the second is as of the ship itself…Dave. His ability to make both the Captain and Dave two different characters yet be connected was simply amazing. Murphy proves that you can still do slapstick comedy without having to physically harm oneself.

Elizabeth Banks showed that she can do more then sit at a desk as she did in the Spider-Man movies (she was Betty Brant). New comer Austyn Meyers does a great job and had perfect screen chemistry with both Murphy and Banks. With a supporting cast consisting of Marc Blucas (Riley on Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Scott Caan (son of legend James Caan), and Mike O’Malley (Stuart on My name is Earl) there was plenty of real world interaction for Banks and Meyers to work with.

First time movie director Brian Robbins knows family features as he is one of the driving forces behind the hit TV show Smallville and has produced tons of family shows for Nickelodeon over the years. This is a very good family movie that manages to get in lots of laughs while not stooping to sophmoric fart jokes or silly parody gags along the way. The pacing was just perfect and the 90-minute run time makes it a good way to spend some quality time at the movies and not feel as if you had been there all day.

Meet Dave is rated PG for bawdy and suggestive humor, action and some language.  Trust me when I say your children will love this movie.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆