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Film

"Norbit", "Hannibal Rising" open

By STEVE PERSALL
Published February 8, 2007

Eddie Murphy can't be pleased that Norbit (PG-13) is being released this weekend, 10 days before the deadline for Academy Award final ballots. He's the odds-on favorite to win the best supporting actor Oscar - unless Norbit flops and Murphy reminds voters of why his Dreamgirls performance was a career comeback.

Bad reviews or poor ticket sales could make voters think twice when marking their choices.

Norbit gives Murphy another chance to play multiple characters, in the Klump family tradition. Chief among them is the title role, a nerd who never had the nerve to refuse the advances of a plump, oversexed woman named Rasputia (also Murphy). Norbit meets the woman of his dreams (Thandie Newton) and schemes to eliminate Rasputia in order to find happiness.

Norbit was originally rated R until a few trims led to a successful appeal of the rating.

Also arriving Friday is Hannibal Rising (R), a prequel to 1991's Oscar-winning The Silence of the Lambs. Author Thomas Harris has endured harsh criticism of his book; his screenplay will be equally scrutinized.

Hannibal Rising stars French actor Gaspard Ulliel (A Very Long Engagement) as the fine young cannibal evolving from his parents' murders during World War II. Helena Lia Tachovska co-stars as Lecter's sister, who influences his ghastly culinary tastes.

Neither Norbit nor Hannibal Rising was screened in time for Weekend. See Friday's Page 2B for reviews.

Steve Persall, Times film critic

[Last modified February 7, 2007, 08:57:45]