Norbit 2007

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: The movie seems a weird nightmare of rampaging femininity and gross gags. Read more

Melissa Anderson, Time Out: When Martin Lawrence and Tyler Perry play gals with sky-high BMI, at least their characters offer -- and are shown -- a certain amount of love and respect. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: This dismal comedy joins a growing pile of Murphy disasters (The Haunted Mansion, Daddy Day Care, I Spy, The Adventures of Pluto Nash), which may have made his Oscar nomination for Dreamgirls a foregone conclusion -- if not now, when? Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Norbit is as fleeting as a belch -- and even less funny. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Hopefully the awards and acclaim Murphy has received for his work in Dreamgirls will inspire him to think twice from now on about puerile pictures like Norbit. The combination of the two speaks to his versatility, if not his pride. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: It probably isn't possible for a single movie to reverse all social progress made since the civil-rights era, but Norbit, the latest broadside from Eddie Murphy, does its best to turn back the clock. Read more

Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic: This gross comedy hardly seems like the best way to exploit Murphy's talents. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Dumb and coarse and sometimes boring and a little bit sad. Read more

Sam Adams, Los Angeles Times: Surely some humanitarian organization will recognize the selflessness with which Murphy has taken three of the movie's major roles, thus saving two other actors from a nasty black mark on their resumes. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: Murphy looks like he's in pain, and he probably is -- latex cellulite can't be fun to wear -- but his anguish is as much existential as physical, trapped inside a lumbering vehicle that offers a morbidly obese harpy as the main comic attraction. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: This borderline-PG-13 comedy demands the sort of sociological scrutiny that often has the moviegoer looking for a fun night out rolling her eyes. And granting Norbit consideration feels like swinging a sledgehammer at a microbe. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Norbit may be the most disturbing, morally repugnant, nightmare-inducing film of the century so far. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: In Norbit, Eddie Murphy is like a xylophone player who keeps banging away on the same two discordant notes; unfortunately, those monotonous, off-key tones are the characters he's playing. Read more

John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press: After taking in double helpings of Tyler Perry and Martin Lawrence doing the same shtick in the Madea movies and Big Momma's House, isn't it time for us to just say no to Norbit? Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Although there's no denying the threadbare nature of the script, watching Murphy riff can be a formidable entertainment on its own. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: What seemed an inventive and engaging stretch of Murphy's comedic resources 11 years ago has congealed into predictable, processed fare. The prefabricated naughtiness of Norbit is guaranteed to drag the laughs out of you whether you like it or not. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: Watching Norbit is like watching a train wreck with eye clamps on. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Norbit is another crude, sloppy paycheck job for an actor who doesn't need the money -- and who proved in Dreamgirls that he is capable of far better. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Eddie Murphy plays three roles in his latest Nutty Professor clone, titled Norbit. And Eddie Griffin still steals his movie from him. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Norbit takes the idea behind The Nutty Professor 2 -- that Eddie Murphy can play just about every character in the movie -- and strips it of all charm and humor. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: There are so many problems with Norbit that when you try to pin one down, another one splooges out elsewhere. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Norbit is a tour de force in which Murphy plays three distinct characters, two of them to the hilt. In fact, the only thing that makes Norbit good rather than great is that the title character is a bit bland. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Norbit demonstrates that even when working with low-grade material, Murphy can be a superb actor. Read more

Teresa Budasi, Chicago Sun-Times: There is potential all over this film, but every scene is overwrought with unfunny caricatures and tired jokes. We've seen every gimmick and sight gag before, in better, funnier films. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Norbit is pretty much a bad-taste sinkhole, with Murphy competing against himself to see which of his three characters he can make more grating. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Think Big Momma's House blended with a particularly loathsome Jerry Lewis movie, and you've got the picture. Grimacing yet? Read more

Anna Smith, Time Out: Even if you go back decades, body fascism has rarely been so brazen, or so unfunny. Horrifying. Read more

Robert Koehler, Variety: It's not hard to detect this creature [Rasputia] as the object of something like pure hate by four male screenwriters. Comedy like this isn't pretty. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Norbit isn't one of Murphy's best; it's a poor cousin to his other family comedies, and as Rasputia, whose catchphrase is a brassy "how you doin'?," he's surprisingly unfunny. Read more