A starship captain, and his crew of tiny human-looking aliens, arrive on Earth in the perfect disguise - a spaceship that looks like an ordinary man, who becomes known as Dave. Each miniature member is responsible for operating a particular part of the body and the crew embarks on an adventure in Manhattan where they meet a family who teaches them a thing or two about humanity. The aliens are here to steal one of Earth's most important resources, but when the captain develops an unlikely friendship with a mother and her young son, he has to rethink his humanity and lay his body - and his spaceship - on the line...

Everyone in the UK, of a certain age, will remember The Numskulls comic strip - which was originally printed in The Beezer and later went on to appear in The Beano. This strip revolved around a group of small people who lived inside a man's head - controlling his body movements - with each in charge of a different body part. The basic plot to Meet Dave is similar to The Numskulls.

This is a fairly straightforward comedy movie - the sort we've come to expect when Eddie Murphy's name is attached to it. While an enjoyable flick, it's a watch once only affair, with none of the characters being fleshed out in any way. Murphy's character takes centre stage with everyone else acting as background characters.

But, for what it is, Meet Dave (I thought that the movie's original title, Starship Dave, was actually much better) does exactly what it's supposed too - nothing more, nothing less.

What is impressive is the list of extras that we get on the disc. While there's no audio commentary, we do get a Gag Reel (2 min, 42 sec of rather naff outtakes); four Deleted Scenes; Alternate Ending (46 sec of footage which wraps up the story a little more for the young boy and his mother); The Making of Meet Dave (22 min, 29 sec behind the scenes featurette. As with the rest of the extras on the disc, Murphy is strangely absent); and Crew Confessions (7 min, 30 sec which sees the actors in character answering questions as if they were really from outer space).

There's also a selection of Fox Movie Channel Presents features. These include ... Life After Film School with Director Brian Robbins (29 min Q&A with the director); ... Making a Scene (10 mins look at the sequence in which Eddie Murphy's character leaves the spacecraft and is wandering around New York); and ... World Premiere (4 min, 35 sec red carpet interviews).

While it'll never make your top hundred movies list, this is still an enjoyable watch once affair that will appeal to the kids as well as the adults.

6

Pete Boomer