Eddie murphy really needs to just cut right to the chase and do an entire film in which he plays every single person (and maybe all the animals and cars too) like that “Malkovich! Malkovich! Malkovich!” scene. He’s been scratching the multiple character itch for so long now, and considering his latest features Eddie raising himself, marrying himself and – paging the shrink –  violently bedding himself, it would seem about time. Hell knows he’s got the comedic ability, and the rest of his co-stars these days are merely expendable fodder for his egotistical scenery demolition; plus, the surreal sight of Eddie playing Eddie playing Eddie might just win him the Oscar he grumpily covets rather than worthy bit part scraps in the likes of Dreamgirls.
    Nevermind the meta-bollocks,  for now here’s Norbit: Murphy as the hapless titular dork (literally) pressured into marrying Jabba The Hutt’s monstrous ghetto sista Rasputia (Murphy again, wobbling grotesquely under layers of Rick Baker’s superb latex), whose life is one endless drag until skin-and-bones childhood sweetheart Kate (Newton) smiles her way back into his affections.
True, Murphy’s plus-size lady suit is the worrying domain of Martin Lawrence (and her “How YOU doin’?” catchphrase is insanely annoying), but to read some of the theatrical reviews you’d think the film consisted of a 90 minute close-up of fat jiggling in some kind of perverse Warholian gag. While there are ample bouncy moments (some funny, despite yourself), there are also amusing send ups of sleazy fitness gurus (Marlon Wayans), BBQ rib pimps (Eddie Griffin) and creepy, cowardly gold-diggers (Cuba Gooding Jr). Like all of Murphy’s recent films, there’s also a sweet-if-predictable heart beating beneath the discount jokes. And the whole thing is shot with a vibrant, comical art direction that underscores its cartoony appeal.