The entertaining 'Deliver Us from Eva' released in 2003 is not your typical rom-com, it is also a loose adaption of William Shakespeare's famous 'Taming of the Shrew'. At first, this would most certainly come as a surprise to anyone who is familiar with Shakespeare's play but when you delve into the plot it becomes quite apparent that this is in fact based on the well-known Shakespearian drama. The clever writers James Iver Mattson, B.E Brauner and Gary Hardwick (who is also the director) took a very interesting approach to this quirky adaptation. 'Deliver Us from Eva' as your everyday predictable rom-com wouldn't necessarily be screaming ten out of ten, however, this rom-com in terms of an eccentric adaptation of the 'Taming of the Shrew' is undoubtedly calling for a gold star.
This film isn't promoted as a Shakespearian adaptation possibly because when people hear the word Shakespeare they immediately associate the word with the renaissance era. However, throughout the last two decades there have been numerous broad adaptions of Shakespeare whether it be Andy Fickman's 'She's the Man', Gil Junger's '10 Things I Hate About You' that is a broad adaptation of the 'Taming of the Shrew' also or 'Deliver Us From Eva'. Throughout the film there a subtle hints that this is a Shakespearian adaptation, which in my opinion add to the overall enjoyment of this film. When the two main characters Eva Dandrige (Gabriella Union) and Ray Adams (LL Cool J) go horse riding the horse is appropriately called Romeo, this brings to mind the famous Shakespearian character. The second subtle hint was one of Shakespeare's favorite plot devices, the fake death device; the fake death of Ray was certainly not just a coincidence. Although there were these subtle hints of Shakespeare, the plot was altered to an extent that if you didn't know this was a Shakespeare adaptation, you would be no the wiser after watching it.
Knowing that this is a loose adaptation, the characters are quite comparable to the 'Taming of the Shrew'. Eva is the equivalent to Katherine as she is headstrong, insulting and controlling. In the same way as the 'Taming of the Shrew', Eva tries to control her sisters and she insults nearly everyone she meets. But this slowly but surely changes when she meets Ray (who is similar to Petruchio). Ray has tamed her, she becomes nicer towards everyone and doesn't insult people anymore. This however, is not similar to the taming of Katherine who is starved and deprived of sleep until she becomes obedient. Gabriella Union gives a very convincing performance of the "shrew" with both her tone and facial expression really emphasising this. Ray isn't as similar to Petruchio as Eva is to Katherine but this is mostly down to the fact that it is in fact a rom-com and there is no room for starving the main character is a romantic drama. Ray is similar to Petruchio in the way he can take Eva's insults and doesn't get turned off by this but rather finds it somewhat charming. On the other hand, he isn't as eccentric or uncaring as Petruchio. LL Cool J gives a good performance of a typical man in a rom-com but doesn't preform as well as Union. This could be down to the fact that his performance isn't half as interesting or exciting as Petruchio plays in the 'Taming of the Shrew' because there is no twisted side to him. If watching this film without knowing it was an adaption, the only character that would stand out would be Eva and this is disappointing, as Petruchio should also stand out, as he is such a prominent character. The plot is mildly comparable to the 'Taming of the Shrew'. The most comparable part of the plot was when he Dandrige sisters' boyfriends/husbands pay Ray $5,000 to date Eva in order to be able to spend time with the Dandrige sisters which is similar to Petruchio only marrying Katherine for her money. Other than this plot similarity, it is easy to say that 'Deliver Us from Eva' is more so comparable to the 1999 '10 Things I Hate About You'. Again, if the viewer of this film didn't know it was an adaptation this could be seen as just a boring rom-com.
There are many people who would not be aware that this film has a Shakespearian background. Therefore, there are two ways to approach and rate this film: from the point of view of knowing it is an adaption and not knowing. Without knowing that this is an adaption I don't think the film would be near as intriguing or captivating; it may certainly come across as just another typical rom-com. For this reason it would be given a bad review, as it is a predictable film with a happily ever after ending. Then taking the case of knowing that this is an adaption certainly makes the film more interesting to watch and compare it with the 'Taming of the Shrew'. It cannot be denied that the writers and directors approach to this adaptation is very clever and quirky.
This film isn't promoted as a Shakespearian adaptation possibly because when people hear the word Shakespeare they immediately associate the word with the renaissance era. However, throughout the last two decades there have been numerous broad adaptions of Shakespeare whether it be Andy Fickman's 'She's the Man', Gil Junger's '10 Things I Hate About You' that is a broad adaptation of the 'Taming of the Shrew' also or 'Deliver Us From Eva'. Throughout the film there a subtle hints that this is a Shakespearian adaptation, which in my opinion add to the overall enjoyment of this film. When the two main characters Eva Dandrige (Gabriella Union) and Ray Adams (LL Cool J) go horse riding the horse is appropriately called Romeo, this brings to mind the famous Shakespearian character. The second subtle hint was one of Shakespeare's favorite plot devices, the fake death device; the fake death of Ray was certainly not just a coincidence. Although there were these subtle hints of Shakespeare, the plot was altered to an extent that if you didn't know this was a Shakespeare adaptation, you would be no the wiser after watching it.
Knowing that this is a loose adaptation, the characters are quite comparable to the 'Taming of the Shrew'. Eva is the equivalent to Katherine as she is headstrong, insulting and controlling. In the same way as the 'Taming of the Shrew', Eva tries to control her sisters and she insults nearly everyone she meets. But this slowly but surely changes when she meets Ray (who is similar to Petruchio). Ray has tamed her, she becomes nicer towards everyone and doesn't insult people anymore. This however, is not similar to the taming of Katherine who is starved and deprived of sleep until she becomes obedient. Gabriella Union gives a very convincing performance of the "shrew" with both her tone and facial expression really emphasising this. Ray isn't as similar to Petruchio as Eva is to Katherine but this is mostly down to the fact that it is in fact a rom-com and there is no room for starving the main character is a romantic drama. Ray is similar to Petruchio in the way he can take Eva's insults and doesn't get turned off by this but rather finds it somewhat charming. On the other hand, he isn't as eccentric or uncaring as Petruchio. LL Cool J gives a good performance of a typical man in a rom-com but doesn't preform as well as Union. This could be down to the fact that his performance isn't half as interesting or exciting as Petruchio plays in the 'Taming of the Shrew' because there is no twisted side to him. If watching this film without knowing it was an adaption, the only character that would stand out would be Eva and this is disappointing, as Petruchio should also stand out, as he is such a prominent character. The plot is mildly comparable to the 'Taming of the Shrew'. The most comparable part of the plot was when he Dandrige sisters' boyfriends/husbands pay Ray $5,000 to date Eva in order to be able to spend time with the Dandrige sisters which is similar to Petruchio only marrying Katherine for her money. Other than this plot similarity, it is easy to say that 'Deliver Us from Eva' is more so comparable to the 1999 '10 Things I Hate About You'. Again, if the viewer of this film didn't know it was an adaptation this could be seen as just a boring rom-com.
There are many people who would not be aware that this film has a Shakespearian background. Therefore, there are two ways to approach and rate this film: from the point of view of knowing it is an adaption and not knowing. Without knowing that this is an adaption I don't think the film would be near as intriguing or captivating; it may certainly come across as just another typical rom-com. For this reason it would be given a bad review, as it is a predictable film with a happily ever after ending. Then taking the case of knowing that this is an adaption certainly makes the film more interesting to watch and compare it with the 'Taming of the Shrew'. It cannot be denied that the writers and directors approach to this adaptation is very clever and quirky.