Overview: Eddie Murphy stars and stars in this very broad and raucous comedy that finds the Oscar-nominated Dreamgirls actor revisiting the multiple-character shtick that worked so well for him in Coming to America and The Nutty Professor. The latter's makeup-effects artist, Rick Baker, once again transforms Murphy into a variety of grotesques and caricatures, including the hugely fat, monstrous Rasputia, the Asian Mr. Wong, and the timorous Norbit, a nervous orphan raised by Wong and married to Rasputia. The latter, a member of a construction family with a plan to turn Wong's orphanage into a strip club, is a relentlessly narcissistic shrew who puts the screws on Norbit at every turn, especially when he rediscovers his love for an old friend, Kate (Thandie Newton).

DVD Verdict: You can usually bet that you are in for a treat when the first four actors in the rolling credits is Eddie Murphy, Eddie Murphy, Eddie Murphy, and Eddie Murphy. Much like he did in Coming to America, he is playing a large diversity of roles in this movie. Not only is he Norbit, but he is Norbit's wife, his adoptive father, the man cheating with his wife, and others. Eddie Murphy, the biggest box office producer (Norbit and Shrek 3 put him past Tom Hanks for #1), is always a treat to watch. What is really amazing is how it is hard to pick him out of the character of actors. He is funny and very comfortable in front of a camera. His acting does not disappoint in this movie in all of the roles. Like Martin Lawrence's Big Momma's House and somewhat like his own role in Nutty Professor, there is a lot of time where the skinny Eddie Murphy is stuck in the body suit of a large woman. But this movie has taken it to a whole new level. While you could tell Lawrence was in a body suit (which you were supposed to), it was actually difficult to tell that Eddie was wearing a suit. There was even a lot (too much?) screen time where Laticia was at a water park in a bathing suit and it was very hard to tell that you weren't looking at flesh. This is not only a credit to the way Eddie moved but to the costume designers. The only thing lacking in this movie was a good script. The writers wanted to focus too much on the gross-out humor and forgot to tell a good story. Some of the content was too over the top and there were a lot of missed opportunities to have some fun with one of the best comedic actors of our time, Eddie Murphy. I checked this movie out on HD-DVD. Some HD-DVD movies lack picture quality or there are some scenes that aren't produced in high definition quality but the quality was fantastic all the way through this movie. If you have an HD-DVD player make sure you pick this up in HD. It is well worth any extra effort or money to do so. This movie is most definitely a rental. Not bad enough to miss, but not good enough to own. The closest movie I could compare this to would be Nutty Professor, just not as funny. If that movie didn't entertain you then shy away from this one. Otherwise, pick this one up. Just make sure you rent it before buying it! This is a Widescreen Presentation (2.35:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

14 Deleted Scenes
Man of a Thousand Faces
Power Tap (Marlon Wayans mock infomercial)
The Stunts of Norbit
And More!