In different ways, Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, Jamie Foxx, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Kevin Hart, Mike Epps and Eddie Griffin have all made it their business to describe the experience – self-confidently at last – of being black as opposed to white in America. For as long as there's been hip-hop music, it's had a counterpart in comedy. "I'm only calling you bitches," he explains to the women in the audience, "because I don't know your names individually." Is that an excuse? Or a refusal to make one? You are entitled, if you wish, to dismiss him out of hand right there.īut Williams is interesting. Here's hoping that little gold statuette brings you the comic roles you deserve.The set-up: Right from the beginning, Katt Williams clears something up. He did it in the '80s, with films like "Trading Places" and "Beverly Hills Cop," and in the '90s with "Bowfinger." Here's an idea: Keep Murphy on your payroll, but give him a role that capitalizes on his ability to be funny without all the bells and whistles. The folks at Dreamworks played their cards right when they released "Dreamgirls" before "Norbit" if "Norbit" had come out first, folks might not have taken Murphy too seriously. Thandie Newton's grown-up Kate is beautiful and kind and has genuine affection for Norbit, but even the sweet love story can't save this film. Griffin and Williams as ex-pimps and Wayans (also unrecognizable as Rasputia's dance instructor) are just kind of thrown into the film like a splash of color in an earth-toned room. The comic relief - if there can be such a thing in a comedy - could have saved this film if the actors had been given better material that made sense.
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Murphy's Rasputia is a fat, rude, loud-mouthed stereotype, whose sole purpose in the film is to humiliate Norbit and provide numerous fat-person gags: She plops into a kiddie pool and all the water splashes out she gets into a sports car - about six times throughout the movie - and her huge boobs rub up against the steering wheel, sounding the horn she breaks the bed numerous times gets in a bathtub and the bathroom floods goes to the beauty shop. Wong, but it shall not be revealed here in case there are any readers out there who insist on sitting through this film.) (OK, there is one funny joke, delivered by Mr. Wong, but unfortunately they're not funny. In "Norbit," he is unrecognizable as Rasputia and Mr. In "The Nutty Professor" (1996), Murphy played various members of the Klump family, but you could tell it was him under the makeup. He's done this before but to different effect. The one star in this review is for whomever is responsible for the visual effects and for Murphy's ability to inhabit three different characters. The unattractive girl gets a husband and the orphan gets a family. It's a mutually beneficial relationship for a while. Norbit marries his childhood sweetheart - not cute Kate, the one he pretend-marries under the orphanage tree right before she gets adopted, but Rasputia, the big girl with the even bigger mouth who keeps him from being the playground bullies' punching bag. This film does not include a story arc where the nerdy, lisping, simple and warm-hearted Norbit seeks out his parents, but if it did, he would undoubtedly find TV's Urkel and Forrest Gump living a lovely domestic partnership somewhere. Wong declares Norbit the ugliest baby he's ever seen and raises the boy until he's grown.
In "Norbit," Murphy plays the title character, who as a baby is left at an orphanage run by Mr. We've seen every gimmick and sight gag before in better, funnier films.
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There is potential all over this film, with comedians Eddie Griffin, Katt Williams and Marlon Wayans, plus Thandie Newton ("Crash," "The Pursuit of Happyness") and Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding Jr., but every scene is overwrought with unfunny caricatures and tired jokes. The trouble with "Norbit," which was produced to showcase Murphy's vast comic repertoire, is that the laughs get buried under way too much gimmickry. It's a good thing Eddie Murphy's sitting on an Oscar nomination for his dramatic turn in "Dreamgirls," because his latest comedy is a nightmare. Synopsis: Eddie MurphyÕs latest comedy is a nightmare, but he gets points for being unrecognizable while inhabiting different characters. Rated: PG-13 (for crude and sexual humor, some nudity and language) Cast: Eddie Murphy, Thandie Newton, Cuba Gooding Jr., Eddie Griffin, Marlon Wayans
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