Are you looking for social commentary on the strength of the human spirit? Do you need research on the worthiness of the human condition? Perhaps you just want to laugh at something that makes no sense. If you are looking for anything like that, you are going to want to go elsewhere.

Seriously, if you've seen the trailer, you likely have a good idea of the comedy level of this movie, and it is not all that high. I like Eddie Murphy, the guy can be uproariously funny and he also has some acting skills (demonstrated by his performance in Dreamgirls), but unfortunately his last couple of features leave something to be desired. Well, let's be honest, they leave a lot to be desired. On the flip side, with Meet Dave he does take a step in the right direction following the gigantic misstep that was Norbit.

The basic premise of Meet Dave is pretty simple. A small device was sent to Earth to steal the salt from the oceans to provide power for an alien world. However, the device is knocked off course and ends up in the possession of a young boy. This cannot be allowed to last, so hot on its heels is a spaceship that looks like Eddie Murphy and it is manned by a race of little itty bitty people led by, you guessed it, Eddie Murphy, but he is only known as Captain. It is up to this crew inside Eddie Murphy to find the device and put it to work to save their people.

Anything beyond that is just icing on the cake, or nonsensical padding. You make the call.

As the by-the-book crew goes about their mission they have a chance encounter with the widowed mother (Elizabeth Banks) of the boy with the device. Follow me? The problems become a bit more complicated when they discover the device has fallen into someone else's hands and the crew is beginning to feel strange effects the longer they stay on this strange planet.

Over the course of the movie you have to know that everything is going to work out and don't tell me you actually believed a light-hearted comedy like this would actually build to a downer of an ending. I would not be averse to someone being brave enough to try it, but don't expect it from a film targeting a mainstream audience.