I hope you realize just how much the reporters at The Towerlight love you. How much do we love you? Enough to see "Norbit" so you don't have to.
I'll never understand why Eddie Murphy keeps going back to the fat suit for ideas, but I wish he'd stop already, because I'm getting tired of it.
The basic storyline of the movie is that the hopelessly geeky Norbit (Eddie Murphy) grows up in an orphanage - Wong's Golden Won-Ton Orphanage, to be exact - where he meets his soul mate in the form of a girl named Kate (played as an adult by the lovely Thandie Newton). Kate is adopted and moves away - a plot line never again addressed in the movie, and actually contradicted in parts.
Norbit is left alone until Rasputia (also played by Eddie Murphy), a fat bully, gloms onto him and gives him a feeling of belonging in exchange for essentially his free will.
Years later, Norbit is married and miserable. Rasputia pushes him around relentlessly, getting fatter and meaner.
Then Kate returns to town in hopes of taking over the orphanage from Mr. Wong (Eddie Murphy, again, believe it or not). Hilarity ensues, or so we are supposed to think.
The movie starts to drag after the first half hour, and you know how it's going to end almost immediately. Murphy as Rasputia is mildly amusing at first, because hey, it's a big fat black woman pushing people around. But the character of Rasputia (and several other characters, including Mr. Wong and Rasputia's brothers Big Jack, Earl and Blue) is so one-dimensional that the gag wears off far too quickly, and then we're left with one big fat joke for the next hour and 15 minutes, interspersed with the occasional unfunny racial potshot.
With that said, the movie was not without its charm. Eddie Murphy's portrayal of the titular role generally treads the line between obnoxious and sweet.
Eddie Griffin really shines as Pope Sweet Jesus, a smooth-talking pimp who runs a ribs shack.
Though Kate's character doesn't allow for a whole lot of theatrical stretching, Thandie Newton is at least easy on the eyes and generally likeable.
And there are some giggle-inducing moments sprinkled throughout the film. My guess is there's some universal rule that you have to laugh when you see a crazy obese woman on a rampage, wreaking havoc on unsuspecting lemonade stands and mailboxes.
I wasn't bored for the 90-odd minutes, but it wasn't an experience I'd like to repeat anytime soon. I'd say to wait for it to come out on DVD, but you're better off waiting for the TV-edited version on Comedy Central, or wherever else bad movies go to die.
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