As a result of compulsive viewing of America's Next Top Model over the summer, I had waaaay too much awareness of Eve before it aired, since promotional spots for it (along with All of Us and Rock Me Baby)aired continuously. Compared to those two shows, Eve looked, by far, to be the best of the bunch. And, sadly, it is.
Which is not to say Eve remotely resembles a good show. Whatever charisma and acting skills Eve displayed in Barbershop have mysteriously vanished, so either she had some incredibly good direction in Barbershop, or she is getting incredibly bad direction here. Matters are not helped by the additon of Jason George to the cast, who is perhaps the stagiest actor this side of Rebecca Pidgeon. For those of you who missed out on Platinum (which took last year's award for "Show That Comes Closest to Being Good Without Actually Being Good") Jason George played the uptight pair of brothers who run a record label. His incredible stiffness was balanced out by Sticky Fingaz' overly earnest, but incredibly unschooled, performances. It made for a fascinating opportunity to observe the full spectrum of bad acting, which, I guess, counts for something.
Here, Mr. George is up against Eve, who apparently has been told that "nervous" is the only emotion her character can possess. Even when chatting with her girlfriends. More amusing than actually watching the show is to pretend that the director is some greenhorn film school grad who read about WIlliam Friedkin's attempts to enhance the jitteryness of his actors on the set of The Exorcist and has taken to threatening Eve with a handgun throughout shooting. Except instead of firing it into the ceiling at random to make the cast properly twitchy, he keeps the gun perfectly trained at his leading lady at all times, thus explaining her inability to act relaxed.
My rule of thumb is that any time I invent stories to explain what's going on off-camera, the show is probably no good. So, I guess Eve is no good. End of story.
Rating: C- (Barely Passable)
Reviewed by Padgett Arango