User Reviews

Eddie Murphy does a superb job playing multiple characters in this movie, especially in the lead role of Sherman Klump, a good-hearted obese university teacher, who is tired of people making fun of his weight. Hoping to win the affection of a colleague, Dr. Carla Purty (Jada Pinkett), Sherman will test a miraculous, but risky experimental, weight-loss pharmaceutical formula on himself. However, the results of experiment are not what, he wanted, as a dangerous obnoxious alter ego named 'Buddy Love' is trying to destroy Sherman, once and for all. Without spoiling the movie, too much, I have to say, as much as I like the original 1963 Jerry Lewis's film of the same name, for its odd sense of humor in the way, it parodies author Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, 'Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. I just thought, 1996's 'The Nutty Professor' is a little more focus on the keeping the same type of a humor. In my opinion, the original was a little uneven with its jokes. It introduce some short jokes, yet, never expand on it. For the most part, the movie humor was all over the place, ranging from childish somewhat dumb slapstick to too avart-garde to understand. Because of that, many of the jokes, fall flat. The remake at least, kept the humor nearly everything in tone, even if the scenes with the professor's extended family weren't really needed. Because of this, the jokes in the 1996 version were better told. I understood, what the dream sequences, funny music montages, and hilarious outtakes were trying to go for. Not only that, but in a world of awful comedy remakes, 'The Nutty Professor' also stands out as a film to watch when you want a good laugh even if some of the jokes were somewhat offensive, gross and crude. For the most part, the fat jokes and toilet humor kinda do hit the funny bone for me. I'm not the best of shapes, myself, however, I'm willing to take a few jabs about my waistline, as long as the movie has a good message. This movie does. There is some heart to this film. I truly understand, why the likable professor wants to transform. I can't say, the same with Jerry Lewis's clumsy character in the original. All, I got from that movie is the fact that the somewhat annoying Professor wanted to boned his much younger, student; which is creepy. His drive for the change, really lacks depth. Another thing that bugs me, is how generic and tiresome, Jerry's nerd character is, as he used it, in a similar role in 1958's film 'Rock-A-Bye Baby'. Even his Buddy Love character doesn't seem new, as it clearly parodying his once-upon Rat Pack buddy, singer, Dean Martin. Plus, for a sci-fi formula plot that supposed to beef up the main character. Jerry Lewis's body doesn't really look any differ, as Buddy Love. Don't get me wrong, this remake also has its problems with the transforming like how does Sherman's body fat vanishes, yet his skin somehow shrinking to fit in, with his new body type, but at least, his Buddy Love seems like a new guy and the antagonist. This film really explore the conflict within man vs self. It was something that was missing from the first movie. Because of that, Sherman's speech toward the end, honestly does mean something, while the Lewis version kinda doesn't, as moments later, the film contradict those statements, when his girlfriend sneaks a few bottles, before their honeymoon. Because of that, the speech in the first movie toward the end doesn't seem so meaningful. This 1996 remake deserves more credit than it been getting. Some people had been dumping on it, for years. Even original producer like Jerry Lewis, abandoned it by 2009. Regardless, of what Lewis and other critics, thought. In my opinion, it's as good as the original, because of the amazing make-up magic and special visual effects at the time. The supporting cast in the new movie is also a lot better. I found Dave Chappelle's brief cameo as the bully comedian, Reggie Warrington and Larry Miller's character of Dean Richmond, to be just as funny, even if it's a bit mean-spirited. However, Jada Pinkett is a bit weak in the role. She really doesn't stand out at all. Regardless of that, the good hearted emotional music by composer, David Newman makes up for the lack of chemistry between Murphy and Pinkett. No really, give a listen to track 2 of Newman's original instrumental score. You will make you feel something. Overall: While, this movie is a bit raucous and crude, it did create some laughs, heart and poignancy than any Eddie Murphy movie has in quite in a long time. It was a Herculean task, but somehow, director, Tony Shadyac and his crew, succeed at it.

In the early days of his career Eddie Murphy demonstrated a certain level of anarchy that actually made him stand out from the crowd. He didn't take prisoners – hilarious profanities came thick and fast, he subverted the whole issue of racial image brilliantly, and his on-screen energy was contagious. Somewhere along the line, Murphy seemed to get tamer and cleaner. Consequently he wasn't as funny as he used to be. The Nutty Professor marks a welcome return to the chaotic, vulgar, energetic side of Murphy. He still holds back a little (certainly in terms of bad language), but this is the first film since Harlem Nights in which he ignores political correctness and good taste, instead giving the audience the kind of devilish excesses they expect of him.

Sherman Klump (Eddie Murphy) is an obese lecturer working at a college in America. The dean, Richmond (Larry Miller), thinks that Klump is a ridiculous buffoon and continually threatens to fire him if he doesn't buck up his ideas. But against his better judgement, he gives Klump one last chance to prove his worth. There is a possibility that the college might stand to receive a huge financial grant from a rich business-man called Harlan Hartley (James Coburn). However the successful receipt of the grant depends very much on whether Klump can dazzle Hartley by proving what innovative and ambitious work is being carried out in his science department. His most promising project involves a weight reduction serum that is being trialled on a hamster. Around this time, a beautiful new member of staff arrives at the college in the shape of Carla Purty (Jada Pinkett). She immediately takes a liking to Klump and asks him if he'd like to go out on a date. Sadly, the date goes horribly wrong when Klump falls foul of a stand-up comedian who taunts him mercilessly about his obesity. Thoroughly ashamed by the whole affair, Klump returns to the laboratory and in a fit of depression drinks his own weight reduction serum. It is at this point that he transforms into a super-thin, hyper-active ego-maniac who calls himself Buddy Love. To begin with, Buddy Love seems to be everything that Klump would love to be but isn't…. but as time goes by, Buddy's testosterone levels soar off the chart and he becomes an uncontrollable lunatic. In true Jekyll & Hyde fashion, Klump finds himself having to fight against his own alter ego before he changes into him permanently!

The Nutty Professor saw life before as a frantic Jerry Lewis comedy in 1963. In this remake, Murphy gives a poignant performance as Klump but saves his best for his scenes as Buddy Love. At these moments he becomes the much-missed Murphy of old, literally exploding with energy and brashness. There is a sentimental undertone to the film - about learning to live with and love yourself exactly as you are - but for the most part the film concentrates on Murphy's larger-than-life persona. The special effects are quite good, with some scenes in which Buddy/Klump transforms from lean love machine to obese professor before our very eyes. In an extraordinary climax Murphy's two characters actually fight against each other from inside the same body, his good half and bad half trying to beat and choke the life out of each other while a group of on-lookers watch in stunned bewilderment. There's nothing subtle about The Nutty Professor but, as broad, vulgar comedies go, it hits its goals quite effectively.

Why would anyone waste time and money to produce a movie like this-----anything bad you can say about a movie production you can say about this looser. I tried to watch but each additional minute I did was more embarrassing and excruciating than the previous one. A few reasonable descriptors would be as follows: inappropriate, ridiculous, sick, obnoxious, terrible, silly, stupid, insulting---just to name a few. I shan't go on with this review except to say that Eddie Murphy has a talent: too bad none of that gift is in evidence here. I give this gutter-rat film a 1.0.

As a fat person myself, I encounter prejudice every day. Movies are especially bad, because it is still considered okay to make fun of fat people. Most skinny people just assume that we're lazy. They think that we have the potential to be as thin as is considered "normal," but we just are too lazy to do anything about it. That is absolutely false (not that the skinnies would ever buy that, but I can at least try).

Anyway, to get to The Nutty Professor, I found it to be one of the most sympathetic portrayals of fat people ever put on film. The only one that tops it is James Mangold's Heavy, although the protagonist's weight wasn't all that was harming his well-being.

The Nutty Professor did have some physical comedy involving fat that one could take as funny, but I never felt that the jokes were degrading. The main reason that I feel this was so sympathetic was that, though he experienced life as a skinny stud, he did decide to be a fat man at the end. One can chock this up to formulae, but something that Sherrman Klump said at the end really touched me: "I could try to lose weight, but I'm always going to be a fat man, and you're just going to have to live with that." I think that a film where the screenwriters who were bigoted would have said something like, "I'll lose weight without this stupid formula." That's not what happened, though, and I'm glad for that.