For his latest stint, "Norbit," Eddie Murphy gains 500 hundred pounds, ages into an old Chinese man and develops a speech impediment, all in less than two hours.
Murphy ("Dreamgirls") doesn't undergo any special operations to fill the roles of his newest movie. Instead, he combines his talent for creating alter egos with lots and lots of makeup. Murphy plays Norbit, Rasputia, and the delightfully humorous Mr.Wong. He uses these characters carefully to deliver the movie's most humorous parts, and successfully makes the audience laugh without overusing any of the characters.
Murphy's talent lies in how he uses each character as an outlet for the different kinds of comedy he creates. As Rasputia, the overweight and overbearing wife of Norbit, he plays out most of the physical jokes and punch lines, making them obvious and sometimes taking an entire screen to show the audience Rasputia's, um, self-claimed beauty.
In describing Rasputia's fierce appetite in the restaurant scene, Norbit says, "Sam used to have a buffet here, but Rasputia took it as a personal challenge. Now she's banned from here."
Murphy uses Norbit as the outlet for his situational comedy, continually placing the saddened and gentle character in abusive scenes with Rasputia and her three large brothers. Even on his wedding day with Rasputia, Norbit still gets some loving words from her brother Big Jack.
"If you ever hurt my sister, or even make her sad, I'll come at you with razor blades and lemon juice."
Supporting the story of Norbit's life is Kate (Thandie Newton, "The Pursuit of Happiness"), the love interest from Norbit's childhood who returns to the town and aggravates Rasputia's rage and jealousy. Also making several appearances are the pimps, Pope Sweet Jesus and Lord Have Mercy, played by the comedians Eddie Griffin and Katt Williams. These two pair up to help Norbit while doling out some of their own comedy sketches.
"Norbit" offers well-rounded entertainment, and Murphy's comedic talent and layered characters are among the elements that made his previous movies successful. With the release of "Norbit," directly following Murphy's Academy Award nominated performance in "Dreamgirls," he reverts back to the genre that best suits him, even though the only Oscar nods "Norbit" is likely to earn would be for makeup.
