Norbit (DVD, 2007, Widescreen)

Eddie Murphy's "Norbit" is all over the map in terms of style; that's its appeal — genuinely sweet and totally vulgar without either tone cancelling out the other. In fact, the innocuous love story at the movie's core gives the audience permission to laugh at jokes that would otherwise be racist, sexist, or just downright cruel.
"Norbit" makes jokes at the expense of the handicapped, overweight and a broad array of ethnicities, while never feeling mean-spirited. The filmmakers have so much obvious affection for their hapless hero and the eccentric supporting players who surround him that the movie ends up being charming rather than offensive.
Murphy returns the comedic approach of "Coming To America" to play 3 different people in the same story. "Norbit", is a sweet but dorky young man raised in an orphanage owned by Chinese restaurateur Mr. Chow (also played by Murphy). As a boy, Norbit falls in love with fellow orphan Kate, but they are separated, and he ends up marrying the immensely overweight and obnoxious Rasputia — also played by Murphy.
Years pass and Norbit finds himself stuck in a miserable marriage, but he finds hope when Kate (Thandie Newton) returns to his life. The only problem is that she's engaged to be married. The plotting of Norbit then goes in a formulaic direction, with a scheme by Kate's evil fiancé to turn Mr. Chow's orphanage into a strip club. The story's very noirishly fresh; and the jokes pay off HARD., where they never stop being funny.
A small degree of uneven storytelling (the only reason it's not 5-star) becomes factually irrelevant with so many great individual moments that the movie has infectious good cheer.
Murphy is outstanding in all three of his roles, and the upshot is that one quickly forgets that the movie is a stunt and simply accepts each character as a distinctive comic invention. The megastar gets a lot of help from Rick Baker's make-up and technology, which is quite simply amazing. All the technology and make-up in the world can't invent a performance, however, and underneath the latex, Murphy creates original and compelling characters.
Norbit, in particular, is a winning hero, and Murphy has a perfect romantic costar in the equally engaging Newton. She exudes grace, intelligence, and warmth in every scene — no small achievement in a movie comprised of flatulence gags and pratfalls.
Murphy, who also co-wrote and co-produced the film, is smart enough to surround himself with talented supporting players — he knows that by letting others be appealing he only makes himself look better. There are some hilarious vignettes involving Eddie Griffin and Kat Williams as a pair of small-town pimps, and Marlon Wayans pulls off the impressive task of convincingly feigning desire for Rasputia.
With peripheral roles so strong, its ends up becoming an asset because it allows the actors to create outrageously funny digressions. The romance between Norbit and Kate is sandwiched between dozens of decorum-shattering jokes and sight gags, many of which focus on Rasputia's obesity.
In a weird way the total insensitivity of set pieces, like the one where Rasputia wreaks havoc at a water park, enhances the effectiveness of the love story.
"Norbit" is a satiric mockery of racial stereotyping. Murphy and his collaborators playfully mock human assumption and prejudices, while never endorsing them. To this, "Norbit" is a welcomed return to form for Murphy.