Released in 1996 and directed by Tom Shadyac, "The Nutty Professor" is a dramedy starring Eddie Murphy as grossly overweight yet good-hearted professor Sherman Klump. In his experiments he develops a potion that turns him into the slim, charismatic Buddy Love who's also, unfortunately obnoxious. While Buddy helps Sherman take down his nemeses (Dave Chappelle), he also messes up his budding relationship with Carla (Jada Pinkett Smith). Larry Miller and James Coburn are also on hand.
Murphy actually has multiple roles, playing the Richard Simmons-like Lance Perkins, as well as Sherman's mother, father, grandmother and brother in the dinner sequences. While I found the Lance Perkins scenes amusing, the dinner scenes largely fall flat, but they do showcase Murphy's talents.
I also didn't care for the flatulence jokes, but I was able to overlook them – and crude jokes in general – and laughed at the many genuinely amusing parts. The movie works because Murphy expertly makes Sherman a sympathetic character. The scene where he shyly asks Carla out is genius; and the scene where their date is destroyed by the standup comic (Chappelle) is honestly saddening. It may not be as good as "Coming to America" (1988), but it's better than "Trading Places" (1983).
The film runs 95 minutes and was shot in the Los Angeles area.
GRADE: B+
Murphy actually has multiple roles, playing the Richard Simmons-like Lance Perkins, as well as Sherman's mother, father, grandmother and brother in the dinner sequences. While I found the Lance Perkins scenes amusing, the dinner scenes largely fall flat, but they do showcase Murphy's talents.
I also didn't care for the flatulence jokes, but I was able to overlook them – and crude jokes in general – and laughed at the many genuinely amusing parts. The movie works because Murphy expertly makes Sherman a sympathetic character. The scene where he shyly asks Carla out is genius; and the scene where their date is destroyed by the standup comic (Chappelle) is honestly saddening. It may not be as good as "Coming to America" (1988), but it's better than "Trading Places" (1983).
The film runs 95 minutes and was shot in the Los Angeles area.
GRADE: B+