Deliver Us from Eva

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Deliver Us from Eva film poster

Deliver Us from Eva is a 2003 feature film starring LL Cool J and Gabrielle Union, revolving around LL's character Ray being paid to date a troublesome young lady named Eva (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 theatres on February 7, 2003 by Focus Features, and also stars Essence Atkins, Duane Martin, and Mel Jackson.

The title is a play on the next to last line of the Lord's Prayer: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

Tagline: Lead us into temptation, but...deliver us from Eva!

[edit] Cast

LL Cool J as Raymond 'Ray' Adams (cast by real name James Todd Smith)
Gabrielle Union as Evangeline 'Eva' Dandrige
Duane Martin as Michael 'Mike'
Essence Atkins as Kareenah Dandrige
Robinne Lee as Bethany Dandrige
Meagan Good as Jacqui Dandrige
Mel Jackson as Timothy 'Tim'
Dartanyan Edmonds as Darrell
Kym Whitley as Ormandy
Royale Watkins as Telly
Matt Winston as Oscar
Ruben Paul as Rashaun
Dorian Gregory as Lucius Johnson
Kenya Moore as Renee Johnson
Jazsmin Lewis as Lori
Henry Kingi Jr. as Mounted cop
Steve Stapenhorst Mayor
Stephen Saux as Bartender
Adam Lazarre-White as Security officer
Lynn Ann Leveridge as Woman in crowd
Bobby Hall as Husband
Mark Swenson as Earl
Terry Dexter as Valerie

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The Dandridge sisters, Evangeline (Eva for short), Kareenah, Bethany and Jacqui live in the northern United States. While Eva does not have a significant other, her sisters do. Eva, who works for the city's health department as an inspector, is bossy and believes only she knows whats best for herself and her sisters and cannot get along at all with their husbands/boyfriends. When the four sisters band together to protect a family inheritance it is the last straw. The boys turn to Ray Adams (LL Cool J), a meat packing trucker, to solve their problem, paying him to keep Eva busy and out of their respective lives. Unfortunately for Ray, he falls in love with Eva at first sight, but she proves to have a tart tongue and suspicious nature. Adams patiently begins to bring her around to the idea of a romantic relationship, even as she toys with the idea of leaving the city.

Eva and Ray fall hopelessly in love with each other, and Eva even temporarily abandons her shrewish ways. But Ray's friends 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 boys finally hatch a daring plan: kidnap Adams, lie to Eva about his tragic death in an accident and cajole her into leaving the city. Eva believes them and arranges a tearful funeral for her "dead" boyfriend, but in the middle of the service Adams appears, having escaped his prison, and the whole truth comes out. An angry Eva dumps Adams, leaves the city and resolves to start a new life. But Adams hasn't quite given up. He shows up at Eva's job on a chestnut brown horse and persuades her to forgive him. She agrees to marry him, split up the inheritance, and apologizes for her interference in her sisters' relationships.