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Norbit (2007) DreamWorks Distribution LLC 1 hr. 35 mins. Starring: Eddie Murphy, Thandie Newton, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Eddie Griffin, Terry Crews, Clifton Powell, Marlon Wayans, Mighty Rasta, Katt Williams Directed by: Brian Robbins This film is rated: PG-13 Norbit Rating:  
E-MAIL FRANK OCHIENG Does Eddie Murphy harbor some sort of fatty fetish, especially when it’s at the expense of playing ridiculous chow-munching black behemoths—both male and female? Sure, the basic understanding is that obese black folks are very colorful to laugh at in all that anticipated stereotypical glory. Besides, one may even say that Murphy isn’t far from the truth in terms of his demeaning exaggerations—just point to the cringing antics of the hilarious heavyweight black woman that willingly make fools of themselves on highly rated fare such as America’s number program in American Idol. Still, do we need the likes of Murphy’s Norbit and Martin Lawrence’s Big Momma to reinforce such mean-spirited mockery in the name of cheap laughs? Apparently so since the majority of the country seems to be fascinated with such disdaining dribble. Maybe it’s not fair to knock Murphy for doing what he does best by languishing in bottom feeder banal comedies. After all, in the wake of him finally finding redemption with the noted juicy dramatic role in Dreamgirls he finally gained credibility in the form of garnering an Oscar nomination after a quarter of a century of making films since his Saturday Night Live heyday in the early eighties. This is what is so frustrating about Murphy in that he has the talented knack for playing multiple arousing characterization comedy. Consequently, Murphy very well could have been tapped for Oscar’s attention ages ago if it wasn’t for the majority of his vapid vehicles that rendered him odious and one-dimensional. Once again Murphy dons a fat suit to convey the easy attainable chubby-oriented chuckles in the numbing and nauseating Norbit. Director Brian Robbins aids Murphy in the mindless meaty mayhem about a disenfranchised afro-wearing, bespectacled nerd who’s romantically hooked up with an obnoxious whale-of-a-woman named Rasputia (Murphy in fleshy mounds of pounds) while yearning for his true childhood love in slim-and-sensual Kate (Thandie Newton). Racially insensitive, inane, misogynistic, dispiriting and sporadic, Norbit is another fruitless money-making one-note joke that will allow folks the freedom to wallow in such ignorant, feeble-inducing foolishness. When in doubt Murphy knows where his bread is buttered in terms of the convenient hits—he resorts to lowbrow and idiotic dreck such as Norbit. Hey, maybe Murphy’s electrifying performance in the aforementioned Dreamgirls was a fluke after all? To say the least, Norbit is an embarrassing spectacle. If you happen to be an aggressively loud and heavyset black woman then thank Murphy tremendously for lowering your self-esteem to an all-new level of ridicule and self-doubt. Norbit hasn’t had a peaceful beginning in life. Disowned as an infant while being discarded from a moving automobile, the rejected Norbit ends up in the custody of borderline racist Mr. Wong (also played by Murphy) within his Chinese orphanage/restaurant establishment. Eventually, Norbit befriends Kate at the orphanage as they establish a close bond. Unfortunately for Norbit, cute skinny-Minnie Kate successfully becomes adopted after a few years thus leaving him behind. Norbit continues to roam around in oblivion where he has no friends and the kids pick on him fiercely. Shortly, Norbit is finally rescued in the form of the beefy and bullish Rasputia. Soon, she proclaims him to be her immediate boyfriend. It doesn’t end there as the misery continues when the hapless adult Norbit marries the demanding “diva of calorie intake”. Norbit is now stuck in a marriage with a hefty harpy that nobody dares to mess with at all. Even Rasputia’s menacing brothers Big Jack (Terry Crews from CW-TV’s “Everybody Hates Chris”), Earl (Clifton Powell) and Blue (Mighty Rasta) fear her moodiness. Nevertheless, the brothers—to appease their grumpy girth of a sister—hire Norbit to work at their construction company where they too give him tons of grief. Norbit is stuck in an on-going rut. There’s no escape from a smothering life of Rasputia’s expanding waistline that matches her widening wrath. The twist in the movie involves Norbit’s real love Kate coming back into the picture with the intentions of buying Mr. Wong’s orphanage. Norbit desires her even more but there are two main obstacles standing in the way of him freely expressing his affections for the lovely and trim Kate: a.) her pompous fiance (Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding, Jr.) and b.) his beastly big-boned wife Rasputia. Somehow, we doubt that Rasputia will let her meek mouse of a hubby sail off into the sunset with the fit and fine-looking specimen Kate. Screenwriters Jay Scherick and David Ronn could have made this material wickedly clever in a disguised commentary about how plus-size women such as Rasputia are really wounded under the excess layers of skin therefore their pushiness and overbearing manner masks a deeper issue of insecurity and flawed character issues. Regrettably, Norbit is too cowardly, sophomoric and woefully tacky to recognize this potential. With Robbins’ sketchy direction and Murphy’s blatant nose for sniffing out crass and hurtful caricatures, Norbit remains an utterly dissolving dud. This is a disposable and dumb-founded comedy that’s unimaginative and scrapes for the doltish extraneous snickering. The defensive opposition will claim that Norbit is strictly an outlandish farce...nothing more, nothing less. Plus, the sight gag of Murphy’s monstrous puffy prosthetics princess in Rasputia is meant as a satire for confident, less-than-attractive large gals as it is equally aimed at watered-down manhood (hence Murphy’s hen-pecked pushover Norbit). Still, Norbit is woefully lazy and disarming in its myopic presentation of a modern-day minstrel show. Hopefully Murphy won’t be considered for any NAACP Image Awards anytime soon, huh? From the sassy sampling of rampaging bulky black chicks to the tired and cliched showcasing of hip pimp-wannabes (Eddie Griffin and Katt Williams), Norbit is painfully revolting if not completely pointless in its entirety. Yes, it’s a clueless comedy and dunderhead ditties such as this should be viewed as broad and benign in its kooky conception. Should Murphy conquer the movie world and win that coveted Oscar later this month then maybe he’ll consider something creative with it? How about melting the statuette so that he can wear it as a gold tooth for his next project where the Nutty Professor Klump pursues his dream of chasing hoochie mamas in between the all-you-can-eat buffets? Click here to comment on this review or post your own thoughts. Frank Ochieng © TheWorldJournal.com |
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