Taglines: Lead us into temptation, but…deliver us from Eva!
Eva Dandridge is a very uptight young woman who constantly meddles in the affairs of her sisters and their husbands. Her in-laws, who are tired of Eva interfering in their lives, decide to set her up with someone so she can leave them alone. They end up paying Ray, the local “playboy,” $5,000 to date her. The plan goes by smoothly, but troubles comes when Ray actually falls in love with Eva.
Deliver Us from Eva is an American romantic comedy film starring LL Cool J and Gabrielle Union, revolving around LL’s character Ray being paid to date a troublesome young lady named Eva (Gabrielle Union). To some extent, it is a modern, urban update of William Shakespeare’s play, The Taming of the Shrew. It was released to the US theaters on February 7, 2003 by Focus Features, and also stars Essence Atkins, Duane Martin, and Mel Jackson. The title is a play on a line of the Lord’s Prayer: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
About the Story
Evangeline (Eva for short) Dandridge works for The Los Angeles Health Department as an inspector, a job most suitable for her bossy and perfectionist nature. She and her sisters, Kareenah, Bethany, and Jacqui, have been taking care of each other since their parents died when they were young. As a result of the combination of her personality and her family’s circumstances, Eva’s level of involvement in her sisters’ lives causes a high level of tension between her and her sisters’ significant others (Mike, Tim, and Darrell, respectively).
While the significant others are out at a bar complaining about how interfering Eva is, they come across Mike’s old friend Ray Adams. Ray is a “Master Player” who can handle even the most difficult women. The guys hire Ray to seduce Eva and convince her to move away with him so they can finally be free of her meddling. Little do they know Eva has already been offered a new job in Chicago.
After a disastrous first date, Ray tells the guys that Eva is too difficult for even him to handle and offers to return their money. However, when he runs into Eva while at work delivering meat to local restaurants they make amends and begin a relationship. Eva and Ray fall in love, and Eva even temporarily abandons her shrewish ways. But when things start to get serious, Eva’s sisters all start comparing their relationships to Ray and Eva’s relationship, making things even worse than before.
After they find out about Eva’s job offer, the significant others panic and attempt to break up the blossoming romance, claiming their wives never let them hear the end of the latest with Eva and Ray, and that Eva intends to stay in the city. Things get so complicated that the men finally hatch a daring plan: kidnap Ray, lie to Eva about his death in an accident and cajole her into leaving the city.
Deliver Us From Eva (2003)
Directed by: Gary Hardwick
Starring: Gabrielle Union, LL Cool J, Essence Atkins, Robinne Lee, Duane Martin, Meagan Good, Dartanyan Edmonds, Kym Whitley, Royale Watkins, Kenya Moore, Yuri Brown
Screenplay by: James Iver Mattson
Production Design by: Edward T. McAvoy
Cinematography by: Alexander Gruszynski
Film Editing by: Earl Watson
Costume Design by: Debrae Little
Set Decoration by: Jan Pascale
Music by: Marcus Miller
MPAA Rating: R for sex-related dialogue.
Distributed by: Focus Features
Release Date: February 7, 2003
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