Young orphan Norbit Albert Rice (Eddie Murphy), was brought up by Mr. Wong (Eddie Murphy) at the Golden Wonton Restaurant and Orphanage. There, Norbit met his true soulmate, the lovely Kate (Thandie Newton). The two became inseparable until Kate was adopted and left Norbit to begin her new life.

The easily intimidated nine-year-old Norbit is rescued on the playground from the taunts of bullies by hefty Rasputia (Eddie Murphy), age ten, who wields a mean right hook. As Norbit and Rasputia grow up, they marry and Norbit becomes part of her family.

Rasputia and her three brothers—Big Jack (Terry Crews), Earl (Clifton Powell) and Blue (Lester “Rasta ” Speight)—run a construction company from which the brothers try to run the town, running the good, hard-working people ragged and extorting money from them.

The meek Norbit is treated with disdain by his brutish brothers-in-law and even more contemptuously by his wife, until his world undergoes a dramatic change when the grown-up Kate returns. Kate has come to buy the orphanage from the retiring Mr. Wong. But she is being bamboozled. Her fiancé, Deion (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) turns out to be a phony with plans to turn the orphanage into a strip club. But steadfast Norbit sees through his façades with a dawning realization that all is not right.

Will he finally stand up to the Rasputia and her brothers, save the orphanage and stop his true love Kate from marrying the wrong guy? Therein lies a tale that can only be told by a masterful storyteller.

In Norbit, the king of comedy is at it again. Murphy uses his extraordinary talents to bring these diverse and unforgettable characters to life in this boisterous, ribald comedy directed by Brian Robbins from a screenplay by Eddie Murphy & Charles Murphy and Jay Scherick & David Ronn.