Stars: Eddie Murphy, Thandie Newton, Cuba Gooding Snr., Charles Q. Murphy, Eddie Griffin, Terry Crews, Clifton Powell

Director: Brian Robbins

Summary: Norbit (Eddie Murphy) is a shy 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 humour, 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.

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Eddie Murphy stars and stars in this very broad and raucous comedy that finds the Oscar-nominated Dreamgirls actor revisiting the multiple-character shtick that worked so well for him in Coming to America and The Nutty Professor. The latter's makeup-effects artist, Rick Baker, once again transforms Murphy into a variety of grotesques and caricatures, including the hugely fat, monstrous Rasputia, the Asian Mr. Wong, and the timorous Norbit, a nervous orphan raised by Wong and married to Rasputia. The latter, a member of a construction family with a plan to turn Wong's orphanage into a strip club, is a relentlessly narcissistic shrew who puts the screws on Norbit at every turn, especially when he rediscovers his love for an old friend, Kate (Thandie Newton). Kate's wish to buy and maintain the orphanage herself is secretly compromised by her fiancé (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), who is in cahoots with Rasputia's family and using Norbit to further their agenda.

Extraordinarily silly, frequently crude and mean-spirited to an extreme, Norbit is far more sour than The Nutty Professor. But there are moments of inspiration, especially a wedding interrupted by wannabe pimps who launch a profane gospel groove, and a dog that talks to Norbit while he is semi-conscious. For the most part, though, Norbit impresses as a technical marvel utilizing careful shot design and skillful editing. Murphy participates in several remarkable, three-character scenes in which he happens to be all three characters, and those moments move so briskly it's easy to forget one is looking at a comic stunt. --Tom Keogh

Main Language:	English
Year:	2007
Release Date:	March 9, 2007
Runtime:	102 minutes
Certification:
Keywords:	English, Comedy, General, Norbit
Genre:	Comedy