Norbit (2007)

Directed by Brian Robbins. Starring Eddie Murphy, Thandiwe Newton, Cuba Gooding Jr., Eddie Griffin, Terry Crews, Lester Speight, Clifton Powell, Katt Williams, Marlon Wayans, Richard Gant. [PG-13]

Vulgar, juvenile would-be comedy (in that it “would be” enormously offensive if its pop culture status was anything besides being a travesty of such epic proportions that it became a go-to punchline) where Murphy tackles multiple roles, none of them funny. There’s the title hero, a put-upon schmuck who is supposed to be sympathetic, but falls short of the “sym” lead-in, and is saddled with the sort of strained vocal mannerisms that Adam Sandler often beats to death. There’s the Chinese restaurant owner, Mr. Wong, a yellow-face racist caricature who also happens to be racist himself (“Don’t like black…don’t like Jew either; but black and Jew love Chinese food, go figure”). And then there’s the vile Rasputia, a ghetto cliché in the “tradition” of Big Momma and Madea, only she’s hateful to a degree of relentlessness that mirrors the non-stop parade of one-note fat jokes. As if these grotesque stereotypes weren’t enough (and that’s not even mentioning a pimp named Pope Sweet Jesus), the narrative progression makes no sense at all, as the “plot” is founded upon an illogical plan to turn an orphanage into a strip club, and even the scene-to-scene transitions are bewildering—after catching his wife cheating on him, Norbit tosses his wedding ring into the trash, but is then seen sharing the same bed with her a minute later as if nothing had happened. Story credited to Eddie and Charlie Murphy, with the latter providing a voice cameo as a dog that Rasputia crushes with her car (what a wonderful world).

5/100