Curator Watchlist
A broad, aggressively crass studio comedy with a few committed performances and some cult-meme energy, but the humor is mostly dated, mean-spirited, and repetitive. It’s more likely to be endured as a curiosity or quote machine than enjoyed as a genuinely funny film.
Where to watch: Buy
Thu · 1h 42m
Director: Brian Robbins
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Thandiwe Newton, Terry Crews
A mild-mannered guy who is engaged to a monstrous woman meets the woman of his dreams, and schemes to find a way to be with her.
Brian Robbins
Eddie Murphy, Thandiwe Newton, Terry Crews
A broad, aggressively crass studio comedy with a few committed performances and some cult-meme energy, but the humor is mostly dated, mean-spirited, and repetitive. It’s more likely to be endured as a curiosity or quote machine than enjoyed as a genuinely funny film.
Norbit is one of those studio comedies that feels built around a single loud idea and then stretched until it squeals. Eddie Murphy is doing a lot of heavy lifting in multiple roles, and the makeup effects are elaborate, but the movie’s comic rhythm is mostly blunt-force repetition rather than escalation or wit.
There are flashes of absurdity that explain why it became a meme magnet, and some viewers will find a strange, almost hypnotic commitment in how far it goes. But the dominant tone is ugly: broad caricature, fat jokes, and a mean streak that undercuts any sweetness the story wants to claim.
As a curiosity, it has a certain late-2000s studio-comedy time-capsule value. As a recommendation, though, it’s hard to justify unless your goal is to sample a notorious punchline factory and see whether its reputation is earned.
Andrew (5★) · 3878 likes
ILL SHOW YOU HOW A BITCH GO DOWN THE SLIDE
MovieBoy (5★) · 2973 likes
Transcends cinema. I’d give it 100 stars if I could. Jesus wept.
Ian (3★) · 1819 likes
I don't weigh no damn 300 lbs. I weigh 165! How YOU doin'?
greyfrantika (0.5★) · 1546 likes
rasputia has a kill count of at least 7
Dale Taylor (5★) · 1267 likes
Turkey Ass
A better showcase for a performer playing multiple exaggerated characters, with more invention and warmth behind the broad comedy.
Shares the disguise-and-identity-comedy setup, but plays it with a lighter, more straightforward crowd-pleaser energy.
Another high-concept, makeup-heavy studio comedy that leans into absurdity while staying more intentionally playful.
Classic broad comedy built on a single comic persona, but with far sharper timing and more durable jokes.
A much stronger Eddie Murphy comedy that balances character work, romance, and fish-out-of-water humor.
Another star-driven comedy vehicle from the same era, with a more family-friendly and less abrasive tone.
A disguise comedy that mines identity chaos and domestic tension with more heart and cleaner structure.
A classic mistaken-identity comedy that is smarter, more precise, and more observant about performance and gender roles.
For viewers who want loud, cartoonish comedy with a bigger sense of visual invention and momentum.
A farce about presentation and family pressure that is much sharper and more affectionate in its humor.
A manic, offbeat comedy that embraces absurdity but with far more style and control.
If the appeal is pure stupidity and quotable chaos, this is a much better-executed version of that impulse.
crude comedy, body-shaming, identity confusion, double lives, marriage anxiety, deception, wish fulfillment, late-2000s studio comedy
crude humor, farce, body comedy, relationship comedy, mean-spirited, 2000s, identity swap, makeup effects, cult curiosity, studio comedy