Deliver Us from Eva

REVIEW
An updated reworking of Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew," the amiable and marvelously titled Deliver Us from Eva provides a few laughs, but is unable to compensate for a story mired in predictability and cliché. Union is Eva, the eldest of the four beautiful Dandridge sisters. Abrasive, sharp-tongued and single, Eva's constant intererence in her sisters' relationships is the cause of much dismay for the men in their lives. This sets in motion a ruse in which handsome Lothario Ray (Cool J) is hired to romance Eva in the hopes she'll have little time for meddling. Of course, self-acknowledged player Ray starts to fall for Eva, and she for him. The premise has long been a good one, but the filmmakers are unable to freshen it, relying instead on a few funny lines, caricatures (especially the beauty shop inhabitants, including the requisite queeny gay) and nice chemistry between Union and Cool J.