Eddie Murphy reteams with Nutty Professor makeup artist Rick Baker to show those whippersnappers Martin Lawrence and Tyler Perry how a black comedian in a fat-lady suit gets the job done. He half-succeeds.
Norbit (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:116
Fresh:10
Rotten:106
Average Rating:3.3/10
Consensus: Coming off his Oscar-nominated performance in Dreamgirls, the talented-but-inconsistent Eddie Murphy plays three roles in Norbit, a cruel, crass, stereotype-filled comedy that's more depressing than funny.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for crude and sexual humor, some nudity and language
Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Feb 9, 2007 Wide
Box Office: $95,323,496
Synopsis: Norbit (Eddie Murphy, channeling Buckwheat and Woody Allen) is a shy, nebbishy fellow, raised by Mr. Wong (Eddie Murphy again) in a combination orphanage/Chinese restaurant in Boiling Springs,... Norbit (Eddie Murphy, channeling Buckwheat and Woody Allen) is a shy, nebbishy fellow, raised by Mr. Wong (Eddie Murphy again) in a combination orphanage/Chinese restaurant in Boiling Springs, Tennessee. As a child, Norbit comes to love Kate, a fellow orphan, but the soulmates are separated when Kate is adopted. Enter Rasputia, an aggressive, plus-sized 10-year-old who protects him from bullies and demands his romantic loyalty, much like her thuggish older brothers demand "protection" money from all the merchants in Boiling Springs. Rasputia and Norbit eventually marry--and the peevish adult Rasputia is played to great comic effect by Eddie Murphy in a fat suit. Although Rasputia is controlling, unfaithful, hideous-looking, and always madder than a hornet, she and Norbit make a life together, albeit one based on inertia, fear, and complacency. The bubble bursts when the now-grown Kate (Thandie Newton) returns to Boiling Springs to buy Mr. Wong's orphanage. Norbit's love is rekindled, and he must find a way to end his loveless marriage, save Kate from marrying a crooked philanderer (Cuba Gooding Jr., in a rare villainous turn), and prevent Rasputia's brothers from carrying through with a big con job that would destroy the orphanage and Kate's life. Eddie Murphy, not surprisingly, carries the show, with broad, juvenile humor, fat jokes, and pratfalls, and while he never aims very high, he manages to inject some poignancy into Norbit's and Wong's characters, even as he plays Rasputia strictly for laughs. It's not Shakespeare--it's not even BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE--but the laughs are as big as Rasputia's muumuu. [More]
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Thandie Newton, Cuba Gooding, Charlie Murphy
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Thandie Newton, Cuba Gooding, Charlie Murphy, Eddie Griffin, Terry Crews, Clifton Powell
Director: Brian Robbins
Director: Brian Robbins
Screenwriter: Jay Scherick, David Ronn
Producer: John Davis, Michael Tollin
Composer: David Newman
Studio: DreamWorks Distribution LLC
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Release:
Jun 16, 2009
Reviews for Norbit
Norbit may be the most disturbing, morally repugnant, nightmare-inducing film of the century so far.
After taking in double helpings of Tyler Perry and Martin Lawrence doing the same shtick in the Madea movies and Big Momma's House, isn't it time for us to just say no to Norbit?
This borderline-PG-13 comedy demands the sort of sociological scrutiny that often has the moviegoer looking for a fun night out rolling her eyes. And granting Norbit consideration feels like swinging a sledgehammer at a microbe.
Norbit briefly thrives on the power of Murphy's genius and then becomes mean-spirited and depressing.
The movie seems a weird nightmare of rampaging femininity and gross gags.
There is potential all over this film, but every scene is overwrought with unfunny caricatures and tired jokes. We've seen every gimmick and sight gag before, in better, funnier films.
This is all pretty ordinary Murphy movie stuff, which is to say it's kinda funny most of the time and very funny some of the time.
Eddie Murphy in another fat suit? What could possibly go wrong with that? Oh, plenty, let me tell you.
Eddie Murphy's finest example of multi-role playing is still his first, 1988's Coming to America. Compared to that comedic gem, Norbit is little more than excess weight.
Murphy may bring down the house in Dreamgirls, but -- despite its crudities and obvious failures -- Freud would find Norbit significantly more interesting.
From start to finish, Norbit is dismally unfunny, inspiring this Sign of the Apocalypse observation: Big Momma's House 2 was better.
If I thought hijacking a plane carrying prints of the film and crashing it into Murphy's house would put a stop to it, I'd go out and buy a box cutter right now.
one long fat joke... a vanity showcase that exists for no reason except to put as much of its star as possible on the screen.
[Rasputia is] violent, vulgar, selfish, and lacking the subtlety of even a fairy tale orge or evil stepmother. The character undercuts the entire film.
It's not hard to detect this creature [Rasputia] as the object of something like pure hate by four male screenwriters. Comedy like this isn't pretty.
Too many of the gags in the sloppy comedy Norbit are lumbering and graceless, more fun to anticipate than to witness.
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