Eddie Murphy

Donkey barely leaves room for an answer. In Shrek (2001), Eddie Murphy gives that stream of talk a small but important urgency: this creature wants someone to stay and listen. We laughed at his persistence, then felt unexpectedly fond of him because the chatter made his need for company audible. Murphy keeps the speech quick without making it sound mechanical; each new thought seems to demand immediate attention. The character would be exhausting if all those words were there simply to fill the silence.

The early leads use that quickness to get a character through trouble. After his film debut opposite Nick Nolte in 48 Hrs. (1982), Trading Places (1983) paired him with Dan Aykroyd under director John Landis. Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop (1984) established the fast-talking, resourceful lead as a defining Murphy part. That comic personality was immediately recognisable, before Coming to America (1988) and The Nutty Professor (1996) gave him several people to play in the same film. The Klump family made room for physical transformation as well as verbal energy.

In Shrek, directors Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson give that busy voice a useful partner in Mike Myers's defensive ogre. Myers makes Shrek's dislike of himself matter, which gives Murphy's eagerness for friendship something to work against. Their characters are funny for the same reasons that they need company, and the film does not have to stop the comedy to ask for sympathy. It does settle for familiar storytelling, and its personalities last better than some of its pop-culture jokes. Murphy remains worth listening to when the writing is rather pleased with itself, because Donkey still sounds more concerned with being included than with getting a laugh.

Dreamgirls (2006) makes room for his singing and dramatic acting, a useful reminder that comic speed need not be his only resource. But Norbit (2007) is a reminder of how broad and uneven the later comedies could become. We do not need Murphy to be restrained in every part. We do need the people making the film to know why he is being so expansive. For an evening with adults and children, Shrek is the Murphy performance we would put on first.