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"'Nutty"
as a Fruitcake"
by Scott Mantz
"Nutty Professor II:
The Klumps"
Eddie Murphy, Janet Jackson
Directed by Peter Segal
I'm gonna go
out on a limb here and start by saying that Eddie Murphy has to
one of the finest actors working today. Here's why. There's no doubt
that "48 Hours," "Beverly Hills Cop," and "Trading Places" tapped
into his comic genius and made him a star, but "The Nutty Professor,"
"Life," and "Bowfinger" showed a touching and sensitive side to
Murphy that has largely been ignored by critics.
Beneath all
the makeup that he wore in the 1996 remake of "The Nutty Professor,"
Murphy gave a sympathetic performance that made the film's humor
and inspiring messages that much more significant. The fact that
none of these qualities are evident in this lame sequel is even
more disappointing when you consider how much time, effort, and
money went into making it. While "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps"
sure starts off as a chubby barrel of laughs, it loses weight fast,
and like its main character, it just gets dumber along the way.
Four years ago,
pleasantly plump Professor Sherman Klump (Eddie Murphy) experimented
with a potion that tapped into his sexually charged alter ego, Buddy
Love (Murphy again). After some wild and crazy antics, Sherman was
able to rid himself of Buddy once and for all--or did he? When he
starts acting out of character, he realizes that elements of Buddy
are still with him. Anxious to completely purge Buddy from his system,
he tries another experiment, which, of course, goes horribly wrong.
This time, Buddy becomes a separate entity, who decides to use Sherman's
new (and untested) "fountain of youth" formula for his own purposes.
In an effort to find Sherman's potion, Buddy comes face to face
with his worst nightmare--the Klumps (all Murphy).
Remember that
dinner table scene in the first film where Eddie Murphy played the
entire Klump family? Well, apparently it was so funny that Hollywood
decided to make a whole movie out of it. Well, it may have been
funny for 5 minutes, but it certainly can't carry an entire film.
It goes without saying that Murphy's ability to disappear into every
role is beyond impressive, and the accuracy at which each Murphy
character interacts with the other is a special effects milestone,
but when the novelty wears off (and it does--fast), there's nothing
left to support the film. The attempt to build on the original and
give each family member more screen time is admirable, but the scenes
don't hold together well enough to give the film the strength that
it sorely needs.
The plot is
ludicrous, and the humor hits so far below the belt one has to wonder
who the film is really for. All of the sympathetic and inspirational
messages ("be true to yourself," "be happy with who you are," "don't
try to be someone you're not," yada, yada, yada) that underlined
the first film are gone, only to be replaced with inane sexual references,
tired fart jokes, and, in one particularly ludicrous scene, a giant
hamster shooting projectile turds across the room. It's almost as
if the filmmakers were more content with following the standards
set by "Me, Myself & Irene" and "Scary Movie" than by setting their
own. By doing this, the film not only ends up disappointing, but
it actually becomes painful to watch.
This isn't the
first time Eddie Murphy has played multiple roles in his films,
with "Coming to America" and "Bowfinger" being other examples that
come to mind. Between his talent and Rick Baker's astounding makeup,
it's hard to believe that it's actually the same person behind every
character (with Granny Klump being the most hysterical). As Buddy
Love, he's so far over the top that he makes his role in last year's
"Bowfinger" seem tame by comparison. It's just too bad we didn't
get to see more of the sensitive Sherman that we saw in the first
film. One has to wonder what Janet Jackson is doing in this movie,
other than supplying some songs for the soundtrack. It's pretty
much a nothing role, and she deserves better.
We all have
a little Buddy Love inside of us. We need that to survive. It's
part of who we are, and by having that taken away from him, Sherman
loses his intelligence and his strength (sounds like an old "Star
Trek" episode, doesn't it?). Maybe the filmmakers were too possessed
by their own Buddy Loves to make a sequel worthy of the original,
as opposed to the nutty film that this turned out to be. It doesn't
change my opinion of Eddie Murphy, but it sure made me lose my appetite.
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