Norbit (2007)

“Remember, black people run very fast. But problem run faster.” – Mr. Wong

” …That’s kinda racist.” – Norbit

“Yes, Wong very racist. Don’t like black. Don’t like Jew either. But black and Jew love Chinese food. Go figure.” – Mr. Wong

Number of Times Seen – 1 (16 Apr 2020)

Brief Synopsis – An orphan who married a woman who he hates tries to find a way out of his marriage when he is reunited with his childhood sweetheart.

My Take on it – In my quest to become more familiar with some of Eddie Murphy’s more esoteric work, I decided to take the plunge and check out one of his most panned films.

I now understand why I avoided this film for so long… it really is horrendous.

The plot is one that has been used so often in Hollywood yet the choice of characters makes this so unwatchable.

It was quite difficult to get through this film because it is so boring and unfunny.

It’s a pity that they never find a way to make this story seem more interesting.

As with many of his films, Eddie Murphy decided to play multiple characters in this one too.

His choices are quite eclectic yet he takes these characters to the very extreme and beyond and that also makes this less enjoyable to watch because things become much too overbearing.

Beside splaying the wimpy main character, he play’s the character’s overly obese wife and the Oriental orphanage owner.

This film does have a few funny moments in it, but they are definitely few and far between which is unfortunate since this is meant to be funny.

The story and plot make very little sense and it too often feels are if the whole purpose of this film is to try and highlight Murphy’s ability to camouflage himself in extreme roles yet things don;t really work here and that causes things to be even more boring as things move try and move along.

Bottom Line – Horrendous Murphy film that is one of his worst performances. This is such a turkey that it was so difficult to get through because it was so uninteresting to watch. Murphy’s choices as to which characters he plays are quite eclectic and he performs the most extreme among them and that also takes away from things here. He plays the main character who is somewhat of a wimp, the main character’s overly obese wife and the Asian head of the orphanage. There are a few funny moments in this film, but they are definitely few and far between. The story makes so little sense overall and seems just like an excuse to bring larger than life characters to the screen that have no bearing whatsoever on the story that just never works.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Some critics suggested that Eddie Murphy’s involvement with this widely-panned movie may have hurt his chances of winning the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Dreamgirls (2006). In the end, Murphy lost the award to Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine (2006). (From IMDB)

Rating – Razzie Worthy (1/10)