We all know Eddie Murphy is a good actor. He's demonstrated that before in many projects but most recently in "Dreamgirls" with his Academy Award nominated performance. So why does he feel compelled to do garbage like "Norbit"? He comes off as a second rate Peter Sellars or Jerry Lewis in these multi-performances not because of his performance but because he keeps tackling material that is truly beneath him. "Norbit" is the closest thing I've regretted wasting two hours of my life watching recently and, given some of the films I've had to sit through, that's saying a lot. Clearly Murphy is not the judge of the material that will work for him best. "Norbit" is racist and offensive but not in a way that challenges our preconceptions but in an offensive way. ***

Murphy plays multiple characters in this story. Norbit (Murphy in a bad afro) is abandoned as a baby and is raised by Mr. Wong (Murphy in Asian make up). Norbit ends up marrying the repulsively large Rasputia (Murphy in marvelous and repulsive make up by make up wiz Rick Baker). When Kate a girl that Norbit had a crush on as a child returns to the Tennessee town he lives in, the old sparks of romance are rekindled. Kate buys the old orphanage where she and Norbit first met and asks Norbit to help her run it. This doesn't set well with the larger than life fury of Rasputia. She wants the place so her family can put a strip club at the location. ---

Image & Sound:

"Norbit" looks terrific which is too bad because the movie itself is as mentioned awful. Skin tones are accurate. Audio sounds fine with a nice 5.1 mix. ---

The extras on "Norbit" are as thin as the title character himself. We get an Electronic Press Kit that focuses on Murphy, a featurette on Rick Baker's make up effects, a featurette on the stunts of the film as well as the uncut "infomercial" featured in the film. We also get 14 deleted scenes, previews and assorted trailers ---

Final Words: