| Dir. Brian Robbins,
US, 2007, 102 mins
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Thandie Newton, Cuba Gooding Jnr
Review by Carol Allen
There is nothing
sadder than a comedy which is not funny – which
makes Norbit a very sad film. Murphy plays the title
character, a nerdy, wimpish orphan married to the monstrously
fat and overbearing Rasputia (also Murphy), who captured
his servitude by putting her mean right hook at his service
when they were children in the orphanage run by Mr Wong
(also Murphy). The script was also written by Murphy
with a few mates, and he co-produced the film. So as
you can see it's a bit of a Murphy ego trip. The only
thing he didn't do was direct it. Having seen him recently
just as an actor in a deservedly Oscar-nominated performance
in Dream Girls, it's sad to see what total rubbish he
now creates when he's charge.
The film is ugly, cruel and vulgar
in its assumption that shouting, screaming, bullying and
beating people up is funny, and it brings absolutely no
wit or originality to its story. It is "fattist" in its assumption
that all fat people are bullies – not only the cartoon
like, screeching Rasputia, whose fat suit makes Matt Lucas' “fat
lady in the massage parlour" in "Little Britain" look
like a size zero, but also her three beefy brothers, who
are running a protection racket. It is also somewhat racist
in its depiction of Mr Wong, with his cliché mangling
of the English language.
Thandie Newton plays
Kate, Norbit's childhood sweetheart from the orphanage
days who reappears in his life. Played as a 5 year old
by a cute very Afro-American little girl, one wonders
by what miracle of cosmetic manipulation she managed
to grow up into the light skinned, willow slim, straight
haired Ms Newton – and also what the gorgeous
and talented Ms Newton is doing taking part in this old
tosh. Maybe dazzled by Murphy's previous track record,
she thought she was signing up for a witty and delightful
romantic comedy, in which case she was robbed. Also on
hand is Cuba Gooding Jnr as her double dealing fiancé – a
bit of a dead end part that. In this film, nobody gets
to be centre stage except Murphy. I'm almost surprised
he allowed child actors to play Norbit and Rasputia as
children, and didn't insist on playing them himself too.
Watching this movie is a truly dreadful experience and
this reviewer came out of it feeling it was the worst
film ever. To be fair if we put our heads together, we
could come up with a few that are even worse, but we'd
be a bit pushed.
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