Deliver Us from Eva [Blu-ray]

Director: Gary Hardwick Gary Hardwick

Overview

Three men discover that meddling in their sister-in-law's love life only makes their own lives more complicated in this romantic comedy. Eva Dandridge (Gabrielle Union) developed a sense of responsibility early on in life, when after the death of her parents she was left to care for her three younger sisters, Kareenah (Essence Atkins), Bethany (Robinne Lee), and Jacqui (Meagan Good). All four of the Dandridge sisters have grown up to be attractive, intelligent, and successful; Kareenah is happily married to Tim (Mel Jackson), while Bethany is engaged to Michael (Duane Martin), and Jacqui is going steady with Darrell (Dartanyan Edmonds). However, Eva still watches over her siblings like a hawk, and while her sisters love Eva dearly, Tim, Michael, and Darrell wish their sister-in-law would stay out of their business. The guys decide that if Eva had a boyfriend, she might be less interested in running other people's lives, and they turn to Ray (LL Cool J), a notorious ladies' man, for help. Ray is short on cash, so the guys make him a deal -- they'll give him 5,000 dollars to romance Eva, sweep her off her feet, and then dump her a few weeks later. Ray agrees, and while getting past her no-nonsense demeanor takes some doing, before long she's head over heels for him. However, Ray unexpectedly finds himself falling in love with Eva, and Eva, when offered a job in another town, decides to stay on to be with Ray. Even worse, the other Dandridge sisters are so impressed with the romantic Ray that they start demanding a bit more TLC from their own men.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/17/2018
UPC:	0191329053898
Original Release:	2002
Rating:	R
Source:	Universal
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:46:00
Sales rank:	32,536

Special Features

Deleted scenes; Delivering Eva: behind the scenes of Deliver Us from Eva; LL Cool J "Paradise" music video; K-Ci & Jo Jo "This Very Moment" music video; Feature commentary with director Gary Hardwick

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Gabrielle Union	Eva Dandridge
Essence Atkins	Kareenah Dandridge
Robinne Lee	Bethany Dandridge
Meagan Good	Jacqui Dandridge
Duane Martin	Mike
Mel Jackson	Tim
Dartanyan Edmonds	Darrell
Kim Whitley	Ormandy
Royale Watkins	Telly
Matt Winston	Oscar
Ruben Paul	Rashaun
Dorian Gregory	Lucius Johnson
Kenya Moore	Renee
Yuri Brown	Cynda
Jazsmin Lewis	Lori
Stephen Saux	Bartender
Johnny Gill	Actor
Mane R. Andrew	Thomas
Craig Anton	Theo Wilson
Aloma Wright	Reverend Washington
Kim Oja	Colette
Angela Bryant	Anita
Terry Crews	Big Bartender
Nicole Lyn	Margaritte
Henry Kingi Jr.	Mounted Cop
April Weeden Washington	Mounted Cop
Steve Stapenhorst	Mayor
Adam Lazarre-White	Security Officer
Lynn Ann Leveridge	Woman in Crowd
Bobby Hall	Husband
Mark Swenson	Earl
Terry Dexter	Valerie
Tony Wilkins	Choir Director
Tamiko Williams	Choir Member
Gina Taylor-Pickens	Choir Member
Sybil Harris	Choir Member
Debra Byrd	Choir Member
Hillary Wicht	Choir Member
G Janee David	Choir Member
Nick Cooper	Choir Member
Cory Briggs	Choir Member
LL Cool J	Ray

Technical Credits

Gary Hardwick

Gary Hardwick	Director,Screenwriter
Len Amato	Producer
Reuben Cannon	Casting
Paddy Cullen	Producer
Henry Kingi Jr.	Stunts
Barry Levinson	Executive Producer
Paula Weinstein	Executive Producer
Kim Williams	Casting

Editorial Reviews

More than just a clever title, the intelligent Deliver Us From Eva delivers the goods for those in search of an African-American relationship comedy. Writer/director Gary Hardwick does revisit some of the mild misogyny of his debut, The Brothers, in the person of Eva Dandridge, a domineering shrew who makes life hell for the boyfriends/husbands of her three sisters. But at least there's a warm comedic core to Gabrielle Union's portrayal of the uncompromising health inspector, which features some great facial expressions and sharp-tongued rants, and Hardwick makes sure he eventually reveals the reasons behind her rigidity. Hardwick also oversees a winning rapport between Union and LL Cool J, whose own less-than-ideal character -- a mercenary player -- indicates Hardwick's interest in seeing both genders get their comeuppance. What keeps the film basically subtle is that it illustrates the characters' various stumbling blocks without resorting to ridiculous set pieces or insulting caricatures. The film recognizes what works in other films, perhaps to a fault -- it goes outside its basic relationship structure to cop a few vicarious good vibes from Barbershop, as the sisters meet in a salon and interact with its eccentric denizens for no real plot reason. (And if you stay through the credits, there's a revelation about one of these characters that undercuts Hardwick's apparent enlightenment). If only the third act didn't revolve around a plot contrivance that the characters would need to take idiot pills to believe, Deliver Us From Eva might be better than just a good addition to its genre.