Crummy Movie Cavalcade: Meet Dave

You have to give Eddie Murphy credit. Here's a superstar who never does publicity for his movies, delivers a big neutron bomb into theaters every so often, and yet can still draw money and acclaim in the right situation. I think his avoidance of the gruntwork of promoting a film really helped him in the case of "Meet Dave." Honestly, now, do you even remember that "Meet Dave" was an actual film that was released this summer?

Odds are you don't. Fox, seemingly aware of what it had it on its hands, barely put any effort into this one, perhaps trying to pretend it didn't exist. I know my experience went something like this: Forgot Eddie Murphy had a summer movie, saw terrible reviews and pitiful box office performance the weekend it appeared, promptly forgot Eddie Murphy had a summer movie. I had to do about 10 minutes of research just to convince myself "Meet Dave" really happened.

Thank goodness the Summer Movie Cavalcade is around to remind us. You may not see Mr. Murphy himself waving to the crowds as the "Meet Dave" float goes by, but how about Brian Robbins, the film's director? Say hi to the man who has done so much for contemporary cinema since his days on "Head of the Class." As a producer and director, Robbins has given us gems like "Ready to Rumble," "Hardball," and "Norbit."

Hey, who do you think starred in "Norbit"? Yep, Eddie Murphy. Murphy can make money in terrible movies like that one. He can earn award nominations in things like "Dreamgirls." But most importantly, Teflon Eddie can star in stuff like "Pluto Nash," "Holy Man," and, yes, "Meet Dave," and seemingly take little permanent damage.

Notice I'm not really talking about "Meet Dave" itself. Can you blame me for forgetting?