
'Deliver Us From Eva'
"Deliver Us
From Eva" flows smoothly, looks great.
By Kevin Thomas
Times
Staff Writer
February 7, 2003
When a woman
loftily declares to the men in her sisters' lives that women uplift culture while men only lift up lap dancers, it's hardly
a friendly sign. In "Deliver Us From Eva," a shrewd and funny romantic comedy, the formidable title character
behaves likes a man-hater. Worse, Eva (Gabrielle Union), as beautiful as she is sharp tongued, interferes constantly in
the lives of her devoted and equally beautiful younger siblings, Kareenah (Essence Atkins), Bethany (Robinne Lee) and Jacqui
(Meagan Good).
Eva makes life so miserable for her brothers-in-law Tim (Mel Jackson) and Darrell (Dartanyan
Edmonds) and Bethany's boyfriend, Mike (Duane Martin), regular guys all, that they resort to desperate measures. Salvation
comes into view in the massive, suave form of Ray (James Todd Smith, a.k.a. LL Cool J), a legendary ladies' man in need of
a down payment on a house. For a $5,000 fee, Ray is willing to seduce Eva so successfully she will never again put down
the men in her sisters' lives.
It's hardly a stretch to guess
how everything turns out, but director Gary Hardwick and his co-writers make the getting there not only fun, but thoughtful.
Ray inevitably will sweep Eva off her feet but not count upon falling in love for real, but what is not so predictable is
that in the process of her thawing out she will in turn focus his ambitions and inspire him to fulfill his potential as
a man and an entrepreneur. Hardwick et al. have written a wonderful part for Union, who zestfully establishes herself as
an emasculating put-down artist of the first magnitude, but as Eva and Ray get to know each other, we in turn get the opportunity
to understand how she got that way and why her younger sisters allow her to control their lives. Eva's high standards have
fused with an unhappy long-past experience to poison her sisters' relationships. Happily, the filmmakers maneuver Eva and
Ray's moment of truth imaginatively. Union, Smith and Hardwick make us care about the lovers.
"Deliver Us From Eva" seems to be set in Oakland and/or Berkeley but clearly has been shot primarily
in L.A. locales, with the four sisters each living in a handsome vintage home in a leafy, upscale neighborhood. The sisters
gather frequently at a neighborhood beauty shop where hair stylists Ormandy (Kym Whitley), a voluptuous and unabashed man-chaser,
and the witty Telly (Royale Watkins) form a scene-stealing comic Greek chorus. (Having established Telly as an easygoing,
openly gay man, the filmmakers perversely add a tag to the end credits disclosing that Telly is really straight but had
to play gay to get a job in a beauty salon. Didn't anybody here see "Shampoo," which came out in 1975?)
Smith and Union play off each other smartly -- and steamily -- and blend into
an effective ensemble cast. "Deliver Us From Eva" flows smoothly, looks great and probably cost lots less than
it looks. One can't help resist saying it delivers the goods.
Enter content here
Why I love critice:
Despite director Gary Hardwick's stock sitcom scenarios,
LL Cool J, the rapper-turned-actor, does a great job as a leading man Lothario.
-Philadelphia Inquirer
Hardwick, who based his story in part on Shakespeare's"Taming
of the Shrew,"
directs
with energy and rhythm, particularly in the beauty-parlor scenes
- San Francisco Chronicle