NORBIT *½

On the heels of his role in DREAMGIRLS, Eddie Murphy falls back on the multiple character shtick he used in THE NUTTY PROFESSOR. This time he plays three characters, Norbit, his grossly overweight wife, Rasputia (don't y0u love that name?), and Mr. Wong, who owns an orphanage/restaurant. Murphy is also listed as a producer and as one of the writers of the script. The rest of the cast includes Thandie Newton, the real love of his life; Cuba Gooding Jr. as Newton's fiancé; and Eddie Griffin and Katt Williams as a couple of retired pimps who can't quite give up their business.

The plot has Norbit trapped in a marriage with Rasputia because he's afraid of her and her three strapping brothers (so is the entire town for that matter). When his childhood sweetheart comes back to town with a desire to buy and run the orphanage they once lived in, he begins thinking of ways they can be together again, while Rasputia and her brothers plot to obtain the orphanage and turn it into a topless bar.

Here's the problem, the film just doesn't have enough laughs to fill 100 minutes. The characters are all stereotypes and that gets very tiresome in short order. Murphy disappears into his characters very well but those characters become boring long before the ending of the film. Newton is lovely as usual but you can't understand what she could possibly see in Norbit. The real star of the film is Rasputia's fat suit, and it's hard to recommend a film on that alone.