Synopsis

"My name is Norbit Albert Rice, and I was an orphan." Abandoned as a defenceless baby out the front of The Golden Restaurant and Orphanage, Norbit is raised by the eccentric and racist Mr Wong. Life is pretty hard for the shy Norbit until he hooks up with another orphan, little Kate. They are inseperable, until cute Kate is adopted. It's the start of a downhill slide for Norbit. While being picked on by bullies in the playground, the easily intimidated nine year old is rescued by a hulk of a ten year old girl named Rasputia. Eventually when they are both old enough to leave the orphanage, the two marry. By this time, Rasputia has grown into a giant, food consuming woman. Marriage unleashes another force in the lump of lard. Her giant appetite for sex. Norbit's world falls apart when Rasputia joins an aerobics class and has an affair with her well endowed instructor. Down on his love luck, bullied by his huge wife, harrassed and threatened by her three ugly standover brothers, Norbit's life is shit. Until Kate comes to town.

What The Critics Say

"This is another prosthetic-clad comedy from Eddie Murphy in which the great comedic actor plays several roles under layers of make-up. Just as with the entire Klump clan in the Nutty Professor series, he plays two unlikely lovers, an Urkel-inspired nerd and a funny chick. There have been suggestions of this return to funny form being hurtful to his Oscar chances for "Dreamgirls", a surprising idea given the breadth of talent required to play comedy this broad (or a broad so broad, for that matter). NINE MSN MOVIE REVIEWS "Eddie Murphy reaches into his comedic closet and pulls out a hysterical hit." David Foucher EDGE BOSTON ".. it's kinda funny most of the time and very funny some of the time." Tim Cogshell BOXOFFICE MAGAZINE "The prefabricated naughtiness of Norbit is guaranteed to drag the laughs out of you whether you like it or not." Gene Seymour NEWSDAY "Murphy's work in Norbit makes his fine performance in "Dreamgirls" look like he was acting with a couple of hands tied behind his back." Chris Hewitt ST PAUL PIONEER PRESS

"Murphy stars as both Rasputia, a half-ton heifer housewife from hell, and Norbit, her henpecked hubby whom she saved from bullies at the orphanage where they grew up. If you're a fan of Big Momma or the Madea movies, watch and learn—you'll find a lot to love." Luke Y Thompson E! REVIEWS "Co-star Eddie Griffin, in a supporting role as the town’s ribs restaurateur and semi-retired pimp, is such a master of demented comedy that he single-handedly raises Norbit's game." John Wirt THE ADVOCATE "As he has shown in other films, Murphy is a brilliant physical comedian and here he excels when playing the ample Rasputia. Other cast memories who deliver on the comedy include Eddie Griffin and Katt Williams." Michael A. Smith NOLAN'S POP CULTURE REVIEW "Murphy shows off impressive range as he digs into a trio of diverse roles while disappearing behind copious makeup and latex." Dustin Putman THE MOVIEBOY "There are a lot of party poopers out there criticising Eddie Murphy for reverting back to his comedy roots and doubting his 2007 Oscar chances, but why? This movie won't change your life, let alone your week. But if politically incorrect humour is your cup of tea you'll laugh your ass off. I certainly did." Sara Friedman BRISBANE WHAT'S ON

The Inside Story In a world gone mad, driven by social inclussionists, the moral right, minority political parties and anyone with a platform for discrimination, there's little chance a film such as Eddie Murphies latest film "Norbit" will recieve any critical acclaim, especially in the U.S.A. You see, "Norbit" sends up racisms, pimps, the disadvantaged and heaven forbid it, body imaging. Body imaging? Fat people you fool. Fat people. In particular fat, black, negro folk. What! A film that takes the piss out of the poor nigga brothers and sisters. Sadly, it's true. A black American has made a film portraying his own kind, those honest, hard-working, law-abiding coloured folk known in the USA as African Americans, as nigga fools and their women as having big, fat arses. It's preposterous. I can just imagine all those white film critics attending media screenings across the U.S.A, choking on their popcorn when Mr Wong and Rasputia appeared on the bigscreen. "Norbit" would have had their eyes rolling backwards in shock and utter disbelief. The vast majority of them would never have seen anything like "Norbit" in their lifetime, nor would they have ever, in their wildest dreams, entertained a film, made by coloured folk, about coloured folk and starring coloured folk would insinuate that Americans are, shock horror, racists. Racism and putting people down would come as such a shock to those gentle Americans who live the ideal life in a country where everyone is equal. Where everyone worships the same GUD and all are Christians, even if they don't believe in Christ. Where black, white and all coloured folk have equal rights and live in total harmony. Where everyone black, white and coloured gets a fair go and all are equal in the sight of GUD and the law. The U.S.A, GUD's own country, the promised land, country of opportunity and religious freedom. Shit! They've only just gotten over "Borat" taking the piss out of them and along come a couple of coloured boys, Eddie and Charles Murphy, who do the same stunt and get branded as insensitive racists. Now that is so funny. And what about that black fool Eddie Murphy. Doesn't he understand he's thrown away any chance he had at winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar at this years Academy ® Awards? Using "Norbit" as an excuse to bump him in the voting process would show just how dumb those yanks really are! No wonder they're continually beseeching GUD to bless America. It's the promised land full of unfulfilled promises. We promise to fix the drug problems stemming from South America. We promise to keep South Vietnam free from Communism. We promise to keep the world free from terrorism. We promise to free the people of Iraq. We promise to unite the Arab world. We promise to bring new life to Afghanistan. We promise to give David Hicks a fair trial. And we promise to unite against racism. Yeh right. What they mean is anywhere but the U.S.A. I feel a real empithy for Eddie and his brother Charles. What the hell were those black muther fuckers thinking? I'll tell you what those black nigga brothers were thinking! They were thinking, easily intimidated husband and big fat dominating wife. The battered husband! "My brother’s been writing scripts for years and years," says Eddie Murphy. "And he got this heat off the 'Chapelle' show. I was like, Hey, let’s write something together. You’re this hot writer now. Let’s do something." For those who haven't seen Dave Chapelle (born David Khari Webber Chappelle) on SBS television let me say, if you think "Kath and Kim" is the pinnacle of white folks comedy, Chapelle (who has appeared in films such as: "Robin Hood: Men in Tights", "The Nutty Professor", "You've Got Mail" and "Undercover Brother") is the same to both white and coloured folk across the U.S.A. And if you follow Chapelle, you will know Charles Murphy created "Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories" for the "Chappelle's Show". Now even though they have worked together in the past Charlie says "the process was not without pressure. What made it hard was the fact that I was working with someone of the calibre of Eddie Murphy. He’s my brother, but he is Eddie Murphy, so it’s a high expectation there. I knew I wanted to make sure I did a real good job. And Eddie made sure that we did a good job." Their initial inspiration came from what they viewed on the internet. "On the Net," recalls Charles Murphy, "there was footage of a man and his wife having a straight-up, knock-down, drag-out fight in the street. And it was always basically the same reaction from guys when they watched this, they’re shocked because the woman is destroying the guy with no problem." "So my brother and I wrote this thing," says Eddie. "It was about that battered husband." In "Norbit" the two lead characters are the easily intimidated husband named Norbit and, mountain of a woman (with attitude), the bootylicious, Rasputia. Eddie describes the two as, "Rasputia is an overbearing, abusive wife. Norbit is kind of like a passive, gentle guy, who Rasputia has under her thumb. And she’s always controlling every aspect of her husband’s life." And how did the two meet? "Norbit and Rasputia meet in the sandbox, literally. He meets her when he’s a little boy. And, from day one, she’s," explains Eddie, "You’re gonna be my boyfriend. And she makes him be her boyfriend all through grammar school and junior high school and high school. And they get out of school and get married. She takes over his whole life from childhood." Eddie and Charlie then asked producer John Davis, chairman of Davis Entertainment and the man behind seventy five motion pictures and movies for television that have earned more than four billion dollars US worldwide, to come onboard. "When Eddie and his brother Charlie asked me to be involved with their script, I was ecstatic. This is the fourth movie ("Daddy Day Care", "Dr Dolittle 2" & "Doctor Dolittle") I’ve done with Eddie." So what was it about the film that grabbed him? "What I loved about this one is that it's Eddie Murphy playing multiple characters and bringing an outrageousness to them." Next to join the team was director Brian Robbins. "The opportunity to work with Eddie Murphy was a no-brainer for me," recalls Robbins. "As a kid who grew up in Brooklyn, New York, I remember watching "Saturday Night Live" and imitating everything Eddie did and knowing every word from every sketch. "48 Hours" and "Trading Places" were like watershed movies for me. So to shoot a scene and then go back to the monitor with Eddie and stand next to him and laugh together about what we just collaborated on was an unbelievable thrill for me. How do you top that?" Eddie says he was very happy working with Robbins. "I worked well with him. I’m doing another film with Brian Robbins right after this." When it comes to the characters Eddie Murphy plays in "Norbit" none stands out more than that mountain of a woman, the bootylicious, tiger in the bedroom, weighing in a 320 pounds, Rasputia. Originally Eddie and Charles envisaged the part going to a woman. "Originally, when we were first writing the film," recalls Charles, "we were talking about who would be the female that would play Rasputia. And then it evolved into being Eddie playing the role himself." In fact Eddie plays three roles in the film. Rasputia, Norbit and Mr Wong. Director Brian Robbins says, "his characterization of Rasputia is just wild, wild and funny and fantastic." But as Mr Wong, Eddie murphy is virtually unrecognizable. "On the first day shooting," the director says, "Eddie was Mr Wong. And when he came out, you had no idea that Eddie Murphy was on the set. I mean, you truly had no idea. It was just startling." Playing opposite Murphy is BAFTA winner and star of "Crash", Thandie Newton. The filmmakers interviewed and auditioned dozens of beautiful, talented actresses before settling on her. "There was a certain quality that Thandie had that we couldn’t find in anybody else," says Davis. "When you’re casting a movie, you don’t know it at the time. We met fourty or fifty actresses. She was the only one who was right for that role. She also wanted to do this movie and sought us out." Murphy notes they "wanted Thandie because she’s so sweet and she’s a really good actress." Like many in the undustry, the chance to work with Eddie was a big lure. "Despite the fact that, in many ways, Kate is the 'straight man' of the film, there were still moments of fun and silliness that I could really enjoy. And to be honest, the main thing that I wanted to experience was to be around a craftsman like Eddie, a genius, to be in the presence of someone creating something memorable." Academy Award ® winner Cuba Gooding Jr felt the same way. "I’m a huge Eddie Murphy fan. My first film was "Coming to America". I had a real little part and all the lines were cut out. So now I have a bigger part in an Eddie Murphy movie. He's a cultural icon. So when I had an opportunity to work with him on film, I took it." Producer Davis recalled that Gooding Jr "really liked the script. It was just a great gift that he did the movie." As if he didn't have enough on his plate, Norbit has the three dim-witted Latimore brothers always keeping an eye on him. These gangsta brothers not only terrorize Norbit, they also run an extortion racket in the little town of Boiling Springs, Tennessee. Terry Crews ("Everybody Hates Chris") was cast as Big Jack. The former NFL players admitted, "I did base this character on a few people that I knew who scared the hell out of me." Eddie Murphy hand-picked Clifton Powell ("Rush Hour") to play the smallest brother, Earl. "I think my presence, in general, is just very strong," Powell said. "That's why they cast me against these guys." Six foot six inch, three hundred and five pound ex-professional football player Lester "Rasta" Speight was cast as the baby-brother of the trio, Blue, who has a Mike Tyson inspired lisp. "At first Brian wanted something like a high pitch, like Mike Tyson," says Rasta. "But then we brought it down to my natural voice, but just a little higher." The three work well on the screen and evidently got on extremely well on and off the set. "The chemistry was there right from the beginning,"recalls Speight. "Everybody just knew their part, knew what they needed to do, and it just came together." Adding much color and slick humour are the pimps Pope Sweet Jesus and Lord Have Mercy played by Eddie Griffin and Katt Williams respectively. Suupposedly on the straight and narrow they are the proprietors of the local 'Rib Shak'. Robbins says he pushed all the comedians on set. "I'd be like, 'What else you got?' 'Let's try something else.' It was fun and they were always game for it. And this went for Eddie too." When asked about the films diverse characters he said, "We had a bunch of roles in the movie that were really funny. We wanted to cast them with funny people. We got, Eddie Griffin and Katt Williams, and Marlon Wayans. We got Marlon Wayans to play the aerobics instructor. He's hysterical." At times "Norbit" is just that. Hysterical! The Verdict "If you're not politically correct you will find this extremely funny in parts. There are so many 'magic' moments here as the cast portray stereotypical parts we can all realize for what they are. But that doesn't mean you can't have a good laugh at what you see on the bigscreen. Eddie Murphy stars playing three roles: The easily intimidated Norbit; the racist Mr Wong; and that giant, mountain of a woman (banned from all you can eat buffets) the very sexually active Rasputia. Eddie Griffin and Katt Williams are a wicked treat as the towns two colorful pimps, while Thandine Newton is all sugar and spice as cute Kate. Forget your prejudices and you'll find this a very funny experience. Prudes, those into social justice inclussion, do-gooders, the politically correct and, anyone who's face would break if they cracked a smile, should give this 'guilty pleasure' a wide berth. Leave your prejudices outside the theatre and have a good laugh. Recommended. 3 1/2 STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "NORBIT" stars .......
Golden Globe Award winner Eddie Murphy ["Dr Doolittle 1 & 2", "The Haunted Mansion", "Shrek I, 2 " and "Dreamgirls"]; BAFTA Outstanding Supporting Actress and SAG Best Ensemble Awards winner Thandie Newton ["Mission: Impossible II","The Truth About Charlie", "Crash" and "The Pursuit of Happyness"]; Academy Award ® winner Cuba Goodings Jr ["Jerry McGuire", "Rat Race", "Snow Dogs", "The Fighting Temptations" and "Home on the Range"]; Marlon Wayans ["Requiem for a Dream", "The Ladykillers", "White Chicks" and "Little Man"]; Richard Gant ["Rocky V", "City Hall", "Bean: The Movie" and "Godzilla"]; with Katt Williams ["Behind The Smile", "Rebound", "Repos" and "Epic Movie"] as Lord Have Mercy, and Eddie Griffin ["John Q", "Undercover Brother", "Scary Movie 3", "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" and "Date Movie"] as Pope Sweet Jesus.
"NORBIT" was .......
directed by Directors Guild of America & Peabody Award winner Brian Robbins ["Wild Hogs", "The Perfect Score", "Varsity Blues" and "The Shaggy Dog"]; screenplay by Eddie Murphy ["Coming to America", "Harlem Nights", "Beverly Hills Cop II" and "Another 48 Hrs"] and Charles Murphy ["Harlem Nights", "Vampire in Brooklyn", "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Jungle Fever"]; cinematography by J Clark Mathis A.S.C ["Isle of Lesbos", "The Perfect Score", "Happy Endings" and "Rocky Balboa"]; original music by David Newman ["Dr Doolittle", "The Nutty Professor I & II", "Daddy Day Care", "Scooby Doo I & II", "Ice Age" and "Serenity"]; production design by Clay A Griffith ["Domestic Disturbance", "Prozac Nation", "Almost Famous" and "Swet Home Alabama"]; costume design by Molly Maginnis ["Mighty Joe Young", "As Good As It Gets", "Who’s Talking" and "Flika"]; special makeup effects Rick Baker ["Coming To America", "The Nutty Professor", "An American Werewolf in London" and "The Haunted Mansion"]. Run Time M minutes Rated 102 [AUST] Copyright ©2007 - Paramount Pictures - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected ©2007 - Impact Internet Services & The Movie Pages- All Rights Reserved