Norbit (2007)

User Rating:

3.7/10   

Director:

Brian Robbins

Writers (WGA):

Eddie Murphy (screenplay) &
Charles Q. Murphy (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

9 February 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Have you ever made a really big mistake?

Plot:

A mild-mannered guy who is engaged to a monstrous woman meets the woman of his dreams, and schemes to find a way to be with her.

Plot Keywords:

Orphan | Pimp | Domestic Violence | Water Slide | Hall

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Eddie Murphy	...	Norbit / Rasputia / Mr. Wong
Thandie Newton	...	Kate Thomas
Terry Crews	...	Big Jack Latimore
Clifton Powell	...	Earl Latimore
Lester Speight	...	Blue Latimore (as Lester 'Rasta' Speight)
Cuba Gooding Jr.	...	Deion Hughes
Eddie Griffin	...	Pope Sweet Jesus
Katt Williams	...	Lord Have Mercy
Floyd Levine	...	Abe the Tailor
Anthony Russell	...	Giovanni
Pat Crawford Brown	...	Mrs. Henderson
Jeanette Miller	...	Mrs. Coleman
Michael Colyar	...	Morris the Barber
Marlon Wayans	...	Buster
Alexis Rhee	...	Mrs. Ling Ling Wong

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, some nudity and language. (edited for re-rating)

Runtime:

USA:102 min | Philippines:101 min | Argentina:103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:12A | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | USA:PG-13 (edited for re-rating) | Netherlands:6 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Brazil:12 | Finland:K-11 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Germany:12 | Malaysia:U | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:15A | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:15 | USA:R (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Agoura, California, USA

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

In the USA was originally rated R but was reduced to PG-13 on appeal.

Goofs:

Continuity: The car doesn't always lean to the left when Rasputia is driving.

Quotes:

[after harpooning Rasputia in the ass]
Mr. Wong: Bingo! Right in the blowhole!

Movie Connections:

References King Kong (1933)

Soundtrack:

Standing in the Safety Zone

A new standard for the distasteful

As they say in "Casablanca," I've been misinformed. Still, most of the responsibility belongs with me.

Misinformed by the promising cast of "Norbit" - Eddie Murphy, Thandie Newton, Clifton Powell, Cuba Gooding Jr. - a whole bunch of talented folk. My fault: not connecting the title with those horrid advertising snippets where an 800-pound female Murphy squashes a sort of male Murphy like a bug, with an unbelievably stereotyped bucktooth "Chinese" Murphy doing unspeakable things.

Honestly, I did not make the connection, and perhaps if I did, I might have thought those preview shots don't tell the whole story. Well, in fact, Murphy-squashing-Murphy is not the worse thing in "Norbit," although it's repeated many times.

The worse thing in "Norbit" is the whole of it: a nonstop, unrelieved, offensive, unfunny gross-out of unprecedented juvenile vulgarity. Think of Stephen Chow at his recent worst, multiplied by several degrees of all-around indignities.

Take it from an incorrigible movie fan who enjoyed half (the first half, specifically) of "Ishtar" (supposedly the "worst movie ever") and, more recently, found the cinematography of several otherwise terminally vapid movies "interesting" - there is nothing worthwhile in "Norbit" whatsoever, not even watching the beautiful Newton behaving like a fig here.

Brian Robbins, a TV producer in real life, is maligned here as the director, Jay Scherick and David Ronn (co-writers of the Martin Lawrence-botched "National Security") came up with a story of gore, body-function accidents, relentless pummeling of men, women and children of all races, although with more venom and contempt for blacks and Asians than the few token whites suffer.

What is the plot, beyond skinny Murphy being married to, and squashed by, elephantine Murphy? I don't want to spoil it, but basically that's what the story is.

"Norbit" sets a new standard for the worst Hollywood can conceivably produce.