Grade: C + | OK, who would win this match – Hannibal Lecter, or Eddie Murphy in a fat suit?

Many would say that Hannibal would win in a fight, but when it comes to box office numbers, Murphy’s “Norbit” won out by roughly $20 million. While the two movies have grossly different plots, both are based around a single theme: torture.

“Hannibal Rising” has scenes of physical torture. “Norbit” could have been used as an instrument of torture.

Murphy plays three different characters in his most recent movie, none of whom are any good. Norbit, the main character, has to figure out a way to end his relationship with his current wife, also played by Murphy, so that he can rekindle the love between him and his childhood girlfriend. Norbit experiences adversity from all sides when his wife and her three large, angry brothers set out to stop his plans.

The movie is a far cry from Murphy’s “Beverly Hills Cop” or his phenomenal work on “Saturday Night Live.” He seems to have lost the edge he once had. Flat and uninteresting characters surround Murphy’s sub-par performance; his love interest, Kate (Thandie Newton), seems awkward at best. Newton has been involved in some great movies, but does not appear comfortable in this role. Some of the best and worst parts about the movie revolve around two ex-pimps still trying to stay in the game of hustling. Pope Sweet Jesus (Eddie Griffin) and Lord Have Mercy (Katt Williams) adhere to many of the stereotypes of pimps.

One of the low points of the movie is near the end, when Griffin and Williams go on a rant about love. After a minute or two, a few of the characters in the movie get annoyed with the length of the speech, which made the most sense of anything in the film.

The few truly funny parts of the movie are squashed by how disjointed the plot of the movie is. Murphy needs to move back to the old days when he used to make movies he only played one character in – because those were his best.