The Letterboxd Page for Eddie Murphy’s ‘Norbit’ Is Turning Into A Brian Wilson Vigil
As the world continues to mourn the loss of musical great Brian Wilson, some fans are honoring the genius behind The Beach Boys by listening to Pet Sounds watching Eddie Murphy’s shittiest movie.
You see, 18 years ago, Wilson gave an interview to the Asbury Park Press in which he was asked if he’d seen “any good movies lately.”
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“Well, I’ve only seen one in the last couple of years. It’s called Norbit by Eddie Murphy,” Wilson responded, adding that he found it to be “fantastic movie” and “very funny.” When the interviewer asked him what his favorite movie was, his answer was simply “Norbit.”
Norbit, of course, is the notorious 2007 comedy in which Murphy plays multiple characters, including the titular protagonist and several cringey, latex-heavy stereotypes. Its onslaught of fat jokes makes The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps seem subtle and understated by comparison.
Norbit was a massive bomb, and is most famous for being the movie that likely cost Murphy an Oscar. He was nominated for Best ing Actor for his work as James “Thunder” Early in Dreamgirls, and considered a shoo-in. But then Norbit, and its reported $60 million “marketing blitz” arrived smack-dab in the middle of the Oscar voting period and seemingly soured Academy on Murphy.
Entertainment Weekly later coined the term the “Norbit effect,” referring to any time the release of a bad movie torpedoes a star’s Oscar chances.
But clearly, Wilson was a huge fan. And now, this cinematic turd is getting more viewers purely due to Wilson’s ing. As writer Zach Schonfeld pointed out on Bluesky, Norbit’s Letterboxd page has suddenly received a flood of new reviews from fans attempting to honor Wilson by watching his “favorite” movie.
Still, most people seemed to hate it. “RIP Brian Wilson,” is all that was written in one one-star review.
“Missing Brian Wilson like a mfer rn,” another person, who gave the movie just half-a-star, posted.
“This was Brian Wilson's favorite film. Decided to watch it in his honor tonight. A terrifying horror film in which everyone you’ve ever met is played by Eddie Murphy,” a ’s two-and-a-half star review stated.
“Supposedly Brian Wilson’s favorite movie. RIP Brian. This is obviously terrible. Tasteless, horribly offensive stuff. Incredibly racist, misogynistic, and fatphobic,” another review declared.
But some people were a little more charitable to the movie out of affection for Wilson. One person gave it three-and-a-half stars, explaining, “I watched this through Brian Wilson’s eyes tonight.” Another suggested that “it’s irable that Brian Wilson found something to like in this.”
What a touching tribute to a great artist’s terrible taste in movies.
