As I was rediscovering Eddie Murphy's "Nutty Professor" saga, the movies grew on me in a way I didn't expect. And realizing that the Klump family should be the first role for the actor to be remembered. I say 'should' because there's no way it will ever beat Axel Folley. But I'm not sure the 'Beverly Hills Cop' movies aged as well as the Klumps, even the first opus didn't leave me quite ecstatic, Murphy was good but in a rather thin plot. But you can count on the Klumps to fatten even the thinner plot, the family was the juiciest and certainly the best role for Eddie Murphy... because it's to be used in a plural form.
Eddie Murphy has always been a versatile actor within his comedic range and his talent to embody multiple characters seemed to have reached a pinnacle with "Coming to America", but it wasn't until 1996 that he could transcend it by playing gag-guys who were not just one or two-scene wonders but fully developed characters with different personalities. It seems crazy but the suspension of disbelief does work, you know it's Eddie Murphy all right but there comes a point where you identify each member of the family and take them as separate persons.
He can be a boorish father with a good heart, a loving Big Mama, a depraved grandma and a boorish big brother yet be believable in each of these disguises. But as Sherman Klump, Murphy exudes such likability and tenderness that you're almost sorry this guy doesn't exist while his alter-ego is the original version. Buddy Love embodies his primal role as a true villain (like the original with Jerry Lewis) and whenever he shows up, loudly and annoyingly, there's something infuriating about him and you just want Klump to punch him in the face. In a smart self-loathing way, Murphy makes his usual self the bad guy.
And once you're in Klump territory, you know you're in there for laughs and good spirit... not so good spirit, you know you'll have to deal with a few poop jokes here and there, but it's weird how the sweetness cancels everything out and make you forgive the most shameful parts or the bits where the plot loses its way or goes too "fart" in the gross department. Take the character of Denise, played by Janet Jackson, as the plot goes on, she's given every possible and vulgar excuse to dump Sherman yet she stays, she forgives him.
I love how patient she is with the man she loves, I like the way she's the one making the first movie, and I liked that she played a different character, it was a nice touch in regard of Jada Pinkett Smith who turned out to simply be a friend. And Sherman is the kind of man to make friends and to attract girls with his kindness, if only he knew the potential he had and how great he was. A lesser film would have made "conquering her heart" the big issue while it's more about getting back the "brain" and even more about conquering your self-esteem.
Take the way Sherman Klump feels overshadowed by the loud and extraverted personality of Buddy Love. "The Klumps" takes the concept to the extreme by separating the two men and confronting one to another, this extraction didn't go without side effects, one dramatic: Buddy taking Sherman's intelligence and making us witness the slow process of his dumbing down and losing his number three asset (gentleness and honesty being the first) and a funnier one: Buddy's DNA mixed with a dog with funny consequences.
There was something of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the original idea, we all live with an idealized perception of ourselves. I've always had height issues and blame my shyness and low self-esteem on what I regarded as a tragic case of 'arrested development'. The subsequent thought was "if only I were tall", I imagined myself more confident, more talkative, more mature etc. Maybe it's true, maybe I'm only projecting an idealization, maybe if I were another person, I would have hated myself, but how would I know?
The first film's lesson was about appreciating who you are and learning to live with yourself. This still applies in "The Klumps" with the added notion that you have to try to improve a little bit, if you can, to trust yourself. The film explores marital insecurities between the parents as the father lost his job and suffers from impotence, and the mother feels abandoned and hides behind her shining smile an emotional vulnerability. Grandma Klump supplies the best and raunchiest jokes while the relationship between Dean Richmond (Larry Miller) and Klump provide some of the funniest bits of dialogues.
Now, as a sequel? The inevitable question is: is it better than the first? I would say, it's as good, it carries as much depth and heart and fun as the first and works as a nice little continuation of the first, even more genuine since there was no third opus. This is one of Murphy's finest hours and I wish the film would be more recognized for its quality in terms of comedic acting, make-up and special effects. It's not just that the characters behave differently but they also look differently in a credible way, even the unexpected young version of Papa Klump.
Apparently, the film is worth less than a five on IMDb, well, I think it deserves a second chance, it's better than that, it's funny, gentle and provide some touching emotional moments. And Murphy isn't just good when it comes to scream, dance, laugh or shout, the climactic moment in the train station almost had me choking, that's a credit to Eddie Murphy's talent.
Eddie Murphy has always been a versatile actor within his comedic range and his talent to embody multiple characters seemed to have reached a pinnacle with "Coming to America", but it wasn't until 1996 that he could transcend it by playing gag-guys who were not just one or two-scene wonders but fully developed characters with different personalities. It seems crazy but the suspension of disbelief does work, you know it's Eddie Murphy all right but there comes a point where you identify each member of the family and take them as separate persons.
He can be a boorish father with a good heart, a loving Big Mama, a depraved grandma and a boorish big brother yet be believable in each of these disguises. But as Sherman Klump, Murphy exudes such likability and tenderness that you're almost sorry this guy doesn't exist while his alter-ego is the original version. Buddy Love embodies his primal role as a true villain (like the original with Jerry Lewis) and whenever he shows up, loudly and annoyingly, there's something infuriating about him and you just want Klump to punch him in the face. In a smart self-loathing way, Murphy makes his usual self the bad guy.
And once you're in Klump territory, you know you're in there for laughs and good spirit... not so good spirit, you know you'll have to deal with a few poop jokes here and there, but it's weird how the sweetness cancels everything out and make you forgive the most shameful parts or the bits where the plot loses its way or goes too "fart" in the gross department. Take the character of Denise, played by Janet Jackson, as the plot goes on, she's given every possible and vulgar excuse to dump Sherman yet she stays, she forgives him.
I love how patient she is with the man she loves, I like the way she's the one making the first movie, and I liked that she played a different character, it was a nice touch in regard of Jada Pinkett Smith who turned out to simply be a friend. And Sherman is the kind of man to make friends and to attract girls with his kindness, if only he knew the potential he had and how great he was. A lesser film would have made "conquering her heart" the big issue while it's more about getting back the "brain" and even more about conquering your self-esteem.
Take the way Sherman Klump feels overshadowed by the loud and extraverted personality of Buddy Love. "The Klumps" takes the concept to the extreme by separating the two men and confronting one to another, this extraction didn't go without side effects, one dramatic: Buddy taking Sherman's intelligence and making us witness the slow process of his dumbing down and losing his number three asset (gentleness and honesty being the first) and a funnier one: Buddy's DNA mixed with a dog with funny consequences.
There was something of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the original idea, we all live with an idealized perception of ourselves. I've always had height issues and blame my shyness and low self-esteem on what I regarded as a tragic case of 'arrested development'. The subsequent thought was "if only I were tall", I imagined myself more confident, more talkative, more mature etc. Maybe it's true, maybe I'm only projecting an idealization, maybe if I were another person, I would have hated myself, but how would I know?
The first film's lesson was about appreciating who you are and learning to live with yourself. This still applies in "The Klumps" with the added notion that you have to try to improve a little bit, if you can, to trust yourself. The film explores marital insecurities between the parents as the father lost his job and suffers from impotence, and the mother feels abandoned and hides behind her shining smile an emotional vulnerability. Grandma Klump supplies the best and raunchiest jokes while the relationship between Dean Richmond (Larry Miller) and Klump provide some of the funniest bits of dialogues.
Now, as a sequel? The inevitable question is: is it better than the first? I would say, it's as good, it carries as much depth and heart and fun as the first and works as a nice little continuation of the first, even more genuine since there was no third opus. This is one of Murphy's finest hours and I wish the film would be more recognized for its quality in terms of comedic acting, make-up and special effects. It's not just that the characters behave differently but they also look differently in a credible way, even the unexpected young version of Papa Klump.
Apparently, the film is worth less than a five on IMDb, well, I think it deserves a second chance, it's better than that, it's funny, gentle and provide some touching emotional moments. And Murphy isn't just good when it comes to scream, dance, laugh or shout, the climactic moment in the train station almost had me choking, that's a credit to Eddie Murphy's talent.