Norbit is a 2007 American romantic comedy film, directed by Brian Robbins, and co written, co produced, and starring Eddie Murphy. The film co stars Thandiwe Newton, Terry Crews, Cuba Gooding Jr., Eddie Griffin, Katt Williams, Marlon Wayans, and Charlie Murphy. It was released by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures on February 9, 2007.
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_poster.jpg) Before Sony made Jack and Jill, DreamWorks made this.
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The film was negatively received by critics and earned Murphy three Golden Raspberry Awards, out of the film's eight total nominations. However, it was a commercial success and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Plot
Mild-mannered Norbit (Eddie Murphy) has always had it rough, since the day he was left abandoned at a combination Chinese restaurant and orphanage. Recently forced to marry the shrewish glutton Rasputia, he is at wit's end. Then his childhood sweetheart, Kate (Thandiwe Newton), moves back to town, and he tries to figure out a way back to his true love.
Why It Was a Really Big Mistake
- The very bizarre storyline.
- Much like in White Chicks, this movie is infamous for its overuse with harsh stereotypes ranging from fat people; especially with Rasputia, who is basically the stereotype of fat people being ugly, cruel, gross, food-addicted and with bad hygiene.
- The jokes are extremely tasteless and range from fat shaming to being outright offensive.
- All of the characters are unlikable, with Norbit and Kate pretty much being the only likable characters in the entire film.
- Some racism:
- Murphy does yellowface by playing Hangten Wong, Norbit's adoptive Asian father who likes to hunt whales and does racist remarks, which follows the terrible stereotype of "asians who hate black people".
- Rasputia is a sassy stereotype of black women.
- It's overall a very mean-spirited movie as most of the film is just Norbit being tortured by Rasputia and her brothers.
- Speaking of which, Rasputia, despite being the main antagonist, is VERY unlikable and easily the worst character in the movie. She physically and verbally abuses Norbit, gets angry when he starts hanging out with Kate but has a sexual affair with her dance teacher, she allows her brothers to turn the orphanage into a strip club, literally runs over a dog for eyeballing her and laughs about it, and claims to be Christian but rejects every law.
- Good actors like Terry Crews and Cuba Gooding Jr. are wasted in this film.
- While a likeable character as mentioned down below, Norbit's voice gets very annoying.
- The disturbing moment where Rasputia falls on a kid at the water park when she goes on the slide, implying that she crushed her. But she thankfully survives.
- Another disturbing moment is when Mr. Wong chops a mallard duck's head off (just like when Rasputia runs over a dog as mentioned above in WIWARBM#6), which can also be distressing and disturbing to animal lovers and people who are gentle with animals.
- Some of the dialogue is laughable.
- The poster looks terrible and embarrassing for Eddie Murphy.
- Very poor CGI effects, such as the water on the slide, which looks fake.
- Shameless and blatant product placement like with ICEE drinks.
- Weak direction by Brian Robbins.
- Not great pacing.
Redeeming Qualities
- Norbit is a likeable protagonist.
- Kate can also be quite likeable.
- There are funny moments here and there, and Rasputia can be somewhat funny in certain scenes.
- Some of the acting is still passable. For example:
- Eddie Griffin and Katt Williams give funny performances, so their characters Pope Sweet Jesus and Lord Have Mercy are one of the only likable characters too.
- Just like in the Nutty Professor movies, it's pretty interesting to see Eddie Murphy play different characters and see them all at the same screen at times.
- How YOU doin'?!
- The makeup applied on Eddie Murphy to play Rasputia and Mr. Wong is actually impressive.
- In fact, this film managed to be nominated for the Best Makeup & Hairstyling Oscar in 2008!
- At least Mr. Wong admitted that he is racist, so he can also be one of the only likable characters as well.
- The ending is nice.
Trivia
- Brian Wilson, American musician and founding member of the popular rock band The Beach Boys, cites Norbit as his favorite film. This would become a running joke within the Beach Boys fandom.
- In this movie, Eddie Murphy plays 2 male characters and 1 female character.
- The water slide scene became a popular Internet meme on YouTube.
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