Norbit

Norbit
Theatrical Release Poster
Directed by	Brian Robbins
Produced by	John Davis Mike Tollin Eddie Murphy
Screenplay by	Eddie Murphy Charlie Murphy Jay Scherick David Ronn
Story by	Eddie Murphy Charlie Murphy
Starring	Eddie Murphy Thandie Newton Terry Crews Eddie Griffin Katt Williams Cuba Gooding Jr. Marlon Wayans Charlie Murphy
Music by	David Newman
Cinematography	J. Clark Mathis
Editing by	Ned Bastille
Studio	Davis Entertainment Tollin/Robbins Productions
Distributed by	DreamWorks Pictures
Release date(s)	February 9, 2007 (2007-02-09)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$60 million
Box office	$159,313,561

Norbit is a 2007 American comedy film directed by Brian Robbins and starring Eddie Murphy and Thandie Newton. Produced by Davis Entertainment and Tollin/Robbins Productions, the film also stars Terry Crews, Clifton Powell, Lester "Rasta" Speight, Eddie Griffin, Katt Williams, Marlon Wayans, and Cuba Gooding, Jr.. It was released by DreamWorks on February 9, 2007.

The film received an Academy Award nomination for makeup,^[1] though the film also received multiple "wins" at the 2007 Golden Raspberry Awards. Although it was negatively received by critics, the movie was a commercial success.

Plot

Norbit Albert Rice (Eddie Murphy) and Kate Thomas (Thandie Newton) were the best of friends as children in an orphanage owned by their father figure, Mr. Wong (Eddie Murphy), but were separated when Kate was adopted. While being bullied by twins in the orphanage, Norbit is saved by Rasputia Latimore (Eddie Murphy), a fat, self-centered, overbearing, vain girl who makes Norbit her boyfriend and protects him from other kids. As they both grow up, Rasputia dominates every aspect of Norbit's life. They eventually marry - in part due to pressure from Rasputia's three coarse, muscular brothers, Black Jack (Terry Crews), Earl (Clifton Powell) and Blue (Lester "Rasta" Speight), who the whole town live in fear of. Throughout their life together, Rasputia mistreats, insults and dominates Norbit to ensure that she keeps him to herself, eventually starting to cheat with her tap dance instructor.

Norbit is performing a puppet show for the children at the orphanage, but then sees Kate for the first time in years, and his affection for her returns. He is disappointed to find out that she is engaged to Deion Hughes (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), a sneaky, slick-talking businessman. Eventually, with help from Norbit's two ex-pimp friends Pope Sweet Jesus (Eddie Griffin) and Lord Have Mercy (Katt Williams) and the other townspeople, Kate falls in love with Norbit. Rasputia finds out about this, and threatens violence against Kate should Norbit speak to her again.

Norbit discovers that the Lattimore brothers have orchestrated a plot to purchase Kate and Norbit's former orphanage to open up a strip club: since Deion is to be married to Kate, he will have possession of the property, and he gets a share of the money once the strip club opens. When Kate finds out about the deal, Deion convinces her that Norbit only used her to help the Lattimores. When she confronts him after he is locked in the basement by a vengeful Rasputia, Norbit lies to Kate to save her from Rasputia. In a fit of rage, Kate leaves Norbit to marry Deion. Norbit escapes from the basement, and races to the church where Deion and Kate are to be married. Norbit reveals that Deion has gotten rich off of divorce settlements, and only marries women for their money; he proves this by presenting Deion's ex-wives and children in person. Deion flees, and the Latimores attack Norbit.

Just as the brothers prepare to kill Norbit, they are stopped by the townspeople, who have taken up arms to defend Norbit and get their revenge on the Lattimores. In the ensuing battle, Rasputia fights her way through the crowd, but just when Rasputia is about to kill Norbit, she is harpooned in the rear by Mr. Wong. Rasputia, the brothers, and Deion are all chased out of town by the mob. Kate and Norbit buy the orphanage and get married under the tree where they once played as children. Rasputia and her brothers move to Mexico and open up the El Nipplopolis, where Rasputia becomes their most popular and lucrative stripper.

Cast

• Eddie Murphy portrayed:
  • Norbit Albert Rice, a shy but lovable nerd.
  • Rasputia Latimore, an obese and lazy woman married to Norbit.
  • Mr. Hangten Wong, the owner of the orphanage where Norbit and Kate grew up.
• Thandie Newton as Kate Thomas, Norbit's friend, whom he is romantically interested in.
• Terry Crews as Big Black Jack Latimore, Rasputia's eldest brother.
• Lester "Rasta" Speight as Blue Latimore, Rasputia's middle brother.
• Clifton Powell as Earlington "Earl" Latimore, Rasputia's youngest brother.
• Eddie Griffin as Pope Sweet Jesus, an ex-pimp
• Katt Williams as Lord Have Mercy, Pope's sidekick and friend.
• Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Deion Hughes, Kate's fiancé. He has several children with different mothers.
• Marlon Wayans as Buster "Bust-A-Move" Perkin, Rasputia's tap dancing instructor.
• Anthony Russell as Sam Giovanni, the owner of Giovanni's.
• Michael Colyar as Morris the Barber
• Pat Crawford Brown as Mrs. Henderson, an elderly woman.
• Charlie Murphy (voice) as Lloyd the Dog, Mrs. Henderson's pet dog. (Credited as Floyd the Dog.)
• Khamani Griffin as Norbit - Age 5
• China Anderson as Kate - Age 5
• Austin Reid as Norbit - Age 13
• Lindsey Sims-Lewis as Rasputia - Age 12

Release

Critical response

Reviews of Norbit were overwhelmingly negative. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 8%, based on 10 fresh reviews out of 116, and selected top critics giving it a combined score of only 4%. The consensus described Norbit as "a cruel, crass, stereotype-filled comedy that's more depressing than funny".^[2]

Metacritic gave the film a score of 27, based on 26 reviews which were generally unfavorable.^[3]

Box office

Despite being critically slated, Norbit was a success at the box office. The movie opened to $34.2 million in the United States and was Murphy's 14th #1 box office opener.^[4]

Home media

Norbit was released on Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and HD DVD on June 5, 2007. Since HD DVD is discontinued, Norbit remains available on Blu-ray and DVD.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Norbit was released on February 6, 2007 by Lakeshore Records.^[5][6]

1. "Standing in the Safety Zone" - The Fairfield Four (2:41)
2. "It's Goin' Down" - Yung Joc (4:03)
3. "You Did" - Kate Earl feat. The Designated Hitters (2:26)
4. "I Only Want to Be with You" - Dusty Springfield (2:37)
5. "Milkshake" - Kelis (3:04)
6. "Shoppin' for Clothes" - The Coasters (2:58)
7. "Walk It Out" - Unk (2:54)
8. "Looking for You" - Kirk Franklin (4:06)
9. "Sweet Honey" - Slightly Stoopid (3:52)
10. "The Hands of Time" - Perfect Circle (6:19)
11. "Young Norbit" - David Newman (3:33)
12. "Queen of Whores" - David Newman (:46)
13. "Kate Returns"/"Tuesday, Tuesday" - David Newman (3:24)
14. "Norbit Sneaks Out" - David Newman (:33)
15. "Rasputia's Fury" - David Newman (1:44)
16. "Norbit and Kate" - David Newman (:55)

"Don't Cha" performed by The Pussycat Dolls was used in the film, but does not appear on the soundtrack album.

The song "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" is sung in Norbit and Rasputia's wedding party, but it doesn't appear in the soundtrack album.

Accolades

The film was nominated for 8 Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Picture, and won 3 awards all for Eddie Murphy as three different characters.^[7] The film was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Makeup.

Golden Raspberry Awards

• Worst Picture
• Worst Director
• Worst Actor (Eddie Murphy; as Norbit)
• Worst Actor (Cuba Gooding, Jr.)
• Worst Supporting Actor (Eddie Murphy; as Mr. Wong)
• Worst Supporting Actress (Eddie Murphy; as Rasputia)
• Worst Screenplay
• Worst Screen Couple (Eddie Murphy and either Eddie Murphy or Eddie Murphy)

Academy Awards

• Best Makeup (nominated)

References

1. ^ Academy Award Nominations
2. ^ Norbit at Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on November, 11 2009.
3. ^ Norbit at Metacritic
4. ^ The Hollywood Reporter Nicole Sperling, February 12, 2007
5. ^ Norbit SOUNDTRACK amazon.com
6. ^ Norbit - Original Soundtrack allmusic.com
7. ^ Norbit gains 3 wins at Razzies Razzies.com

External links

	African American portal
	Film portal

• Official website
• Norbit at the Internet Movie Database
• Norbit at AllRovi
• Norbit at Box Office Mojo
• Norbit at Metacritic
• Norbit at Rotten Tomatoes