On this week’s installment of “What folks select to look at on streamers won’t ever make sense,” the aughts comedy “Norbit” is someway one of many most-watched motion pictures on Amazon’s Prime Video. This exceedingly random information comes courtesy of viewership data site FlixPatrol, which as of publication time has the broadly panned Eddie Murphy automobile hovering at quantity 5 on its record of the ten most-watched Prime Video motion pictures in North America. Positive, why not?
To be honest to “Norbit,” subscribers appear to be having an odd week on the whole, with Adam Sandler’s “The Longest Yard” additionally making the record and two Christmas movies, “Virtually Christmas” and “The Vacation,” already coming into Prime Video’s higher echelons. Nonetheless, it is outstanding to see that extra persons are reportedly watching “Norbit” than are watching newer Prime Video originals, like the Peter Dinklage and Josh Brolin-led action comedy “Brothers” (at the moment quantity seven on the streaming record) and the uniquely format-blending documentary “Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Personal Phrases” (now within the tenth slot). The logic right here is fairly apparent although: folks actually like Eddie Murphy comedies, even after they’re virtually universally thought-about among the many worst of his profession.
Norbit is an aughts comedy within the worst means
To clarify “Norbit” to anybody who hasn’t seen it, we’ll should flash again to an particularly unusual time within the American comedy panorama: 2007. It was a time when the funniest doable factor you may do is quote McLovin from “Superbad” or Michael Scott from “The Office.” The humor being introduced was an uneasy combine between the broad and grating and the quirky and empathetic, with the latter represented by aesthetically “indie” motion pictures like “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Juno.” Many, many issues which might be thought-about insensitive as we speak had been nonetheless being performed for laughs 17 years in the past, at the same time as some artists and viewers had been clearly attempting to push again towards a decade personified by (admittedly very humorous) Will Farrell motion pictures and Seth MacFarlane-style humor.
After which there was “Norbit.” An Eddie Murphy film that was completely trashed upon its preliminary launch, the movie stars the humorist and “Saturday Night time Stay” alum in three distinct roles. He performs the nerdy title character, however he additionally embodies Norbit’s spouse Rasputia, an chubby girl whose measurement is performed for laughs alongside along with her over-the-top management of her meek husband. For no actual purpose, Murphy additionally performs a person named Mr. Wong, who’s Chinese language. Yellowface and fats fits are simply the tip of the iceberg on this film, which at the moment holds an abysmal 9% important score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Norbit could have partly impressed Murphy’s break from performing
“‘Norbit’ is meant to be a comedy with coronary heart, however it makes the Farrelly brothers’ train in weight problems and prosthetics, ‘Shallow Hal,’ seem like ‘Schindler’s Listing,'” The Sydney Morning Herald’s George Palathingal wrote at the time. “Its painfully predictable jokes revolve round nearly each lame stereotype within the ebook, from black American pimps to Italian and Chinese language restaurateurs, however it makes a concerted effort to rile chubby black ladies.” The film earned eight Razzie nominations and has been cited by many as Murphy’s worst movie. “Norbit” was made all of the weirder by the truth that it got here out only a yr after a excessive level within the actor’s filmography, Invoice Condon’s “Dreamgirls,” for which he gained a SAG award. In 2021, Murphy implied that “Norbit” may have been part of the reason he quit acting for a while, stating that getting Razzies for “sh***y motion pictures” impressed him to take a break.
I don’t know why persons are watching “Norbit” on Prime Video this week, however it might have one thing to do with the stacked supporting forged, which incorporates Terry Crews, Thandiwe Newton, Cuba Gooding Jr, and Kristen Schaal. If you happen to do give into the algorithm and take a look at what could have been the worst film of 2007, no less than deal with your self to a palate cleanser afterwards. For what it is value, you could find one among Murphy’s greatest motion pictures, “Dolemite is My Name,” on Netflix.
