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Eddie Murphy's "Norbit" is all over the map in terms of style; that's its appeal — genuinely sweet and totally vulgar without either tone cancelling out the other. In fact, the innocuous love story at the movie's core gives the audience permission to laugh at jokes that would otherwise be racist, sexist, or just downright cruel. "Norbit" makes jokes at the expense of the handicapped, overweight and a broad array of ethnicities, while never feeling mean-spirited. The filmmakers have so much obvious affection for their hapless hero and the eccentric supporting players who surround him that the movie ends up being charming rather than offensive. Murphy returns the comedic approach of "Coming To America" to play 3 different people in the same story. "Norbit", is a sweet but dorky young man raised in an orphanage owned by Chinese restaurateur Mr. Chow (also played by Murphy). As a boy, Norbit falls in love with fellow orphan Kate, but they are separated, and he ends up marrying the immensely overweight and obnoxious Rasputia — also played by Murphy. Years pass and Norbit finds himself stuck in a miserable marriage, but he finds hope when Kate (Thandie Newton) returns to his life. The only problem is that she's engaged to be married. The plotting of Norbit then goes in a formulaic direction, with a scheme by Kate's evil fiancé to turn Mr. Chow's orphanage into a strip club. The story's very noirishly fresh; and the jokes pay off HARD., where they never stop being funny. A small degree of uneven storytelling (the only reason it's not 5-star) becomes factually irrelevant with so many great individual moments that the movie has infectious good cheer. Murphy is outstanding in all three of his roles, and the upshot is that one quickly forgets that the movie is a stunt and simply accepts each character as a distinctive comic invention. The megastar gets a lot of help from Rick Baker's make-up and technology, which is quite simply amazing. All the technology and make-up in the world can't invent a performance, however, and underneath the latex, Murphy creates original and compelling characters. Norbit, in particular, is a winning hero, and Murphy has a perfect romantic costar in the equally engaging Newton. She exudes grace, intelligence, and warmth in every scene — no small achievement in a movie comprised of flatulence gags and pratfalls. Murphy, who also co-wrote and co-produced the film, is smart enough to surround himself with talented supporting players — he knows that by letting others be appealing he only makes himself look better. There are some hilarious vignettes involving Eddie Griffin and Kat Williams as a pair of small-town pimps, and Marlon Wayans pulls off the impressive task of convincingly feigning desire for Rasputia. With peripheral roles so strong, its ends up becoming an asset because it allows the actors to create outrageously funny digressions. The romance between Norbit and Kate is sandwiched between dozens of decorum-shattering jokes and sight gags, many of which focus on Rasputia's obesity. In a weird way the total insensitivity of set pieces, like the one where Rasputia wreaks havoc at a water park, enhances the effectiveness of the love story. "Norbit" is a satiric mockery of racial stereotyping. Murphy and his collaborators playfully mock human assumption and prejudices, while never endorsing them. To this, "Norbit" is a welcomed return to form for Murphy.Read full review
I've been an Eddie Murphy fan since the first time I heard his stand up and then saw him on the big screen in the early 80s. "Coming To America" is my all time favorite film in general and favorite Eddie Murphy film as well. That being said, I love when this dude plays other characters in his films. I believe that this is the ONLY reason why I like certain parts of Norbit. The story line of this film is not great and the script is not much better, but some of the characters make up for where other areas lack in the film. Honestly I think much of the humor is free-styled more than written. Mr. Wong is by far the funniest person in this film for me. Eddie does a good job as an old Asian man and I swear the toast at the wedding is the funniest part of the movie for me. Norbit is cool, nothing special about his character. Raphusia (spelling?) is okay as well but her voice gets annoying after a while. Does this movie top previous Eddie Murphy films where he plays more than one character? No Is this film enjoyable? To some degreeRead full review
Eddie Murphy plays 3 individuals in this movie. He plays a man-Norbit, he plays his own large girlfriend and he plays the orphanage owner-a Chinese older man. If you purchase this movie, take the time to look at the extras and see the hours it took for make up and the doubles and stunt folks that made it all possible. Do not recommend this movie to be watched with children, but great for all adults who honor humor of Eddie Murphy and enjoy a good laugh and don't take the jokes as insults. This movie will definately make you laugh and appreciate Eddie Murphy's acting talents.
I saw this in the theater, twice, and can't wait for the DVD to come out. I realize you have to like this type of humor to appreciate the movie, but this is the funniest movie I've ever seen. I don't think I'd laughed as hard as when I saw Big Momma's House years ago. It really has a fairly simple plot, but I think good enough to hold your attention. Eddie Murphy once again does the multiple character roles and I swear he gets funnier all the time. There was talk that the movie had offended some heavy set women- well I am a plus size gal and I wasn't offended at all. I think too many of us like to sit back and whine about being offended by every thing under the sun instead of just relaxing and enjoying humor for what it is. It's meant to make you laugh, and this movie does just that. I'll probably watch it several more times once I get the DVD.Read full review
Funny to the bone! If you need a good laugh this is the movie for you. I mean non-stop laughter. Rasputia Lattimore is something else. It is amazing how Eddie Murphy plays multiple roles in this film. A very talented man! By the way, this is my second copy of it. I don't know what happened to the first one that i had. I think i lost in my moving shuffle. After looking for it for two weeks, I HAD to purchase another one.
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