The Nutty Professor (1996) User Reviews

My 90's favorite film

[stormhawk2021 · 7/10 · 13 May 2017]

The Nutty Professor is along with Bowfinger, one of Eddie Murphy's last funny comedies. The idea is good, and I enjoyed the comedic elements of the film. Of all the films that Eddie Murphy has starred in, The Nutty Professor is one of his funniest. Sure the film isn't perfect, but there are plenty of good laughs here to entertain the audience. I'm not the biggest Eddie Murphy fan, but I enjoyed this film, and I thought it had some great moments where the film was very well done. The Nutty Professor is a good comedy, and somewhat underrated. However, if you enjoy Eddie Murphy, give this one a shot, The Nutty Professor is one of his last funny roles, and he really does bring on good laughs with his antics in this film. The Nutty Professor has a good cast starring opposite Murphy, and the film boasts another comedic talent, Dave Chappelle. And the acting of Jada Pinkett Smith as Carla was great! The film works well enough to be an entertaining hour and a half and despite the fact that it's not a comedic masterpiece, the film still has plenty of laughs going for it, and is much better than the second. This is one of Eddie Murphy's last good film roles along with Bowfinger afterwards he really started to make unfunny films that just insulted the intelligence and were a waste of time. Luckily looking back at this film, you realize that Eddie Murphy was once very funny and capable at delivering something unique on-screen. Now, he's totally irrelevant and unfunny. The Nutty Professor may not be the best comedy, but it definitely is worth watching and is pretty funny for what it is.

The Eddie Murphy Show

[adamonIMDb · 7/10 · 21 December 2016]

'The Nutty Professor' is a fun, warm-hearted movie with a leading actor at the very top of his game. This is Eddie Murphy at his absolute funniest. Quite how he managed to pull off SEVEN different characters in a single film and nail every one of them I will never know.

For some reason, this innocent, fun movie seems to have made a lot of people quite grumpy. 'One of the worst ever', 'fatism' and 'offensive', according to other reviews. Actually, it is quite the contrary. The message of the film is about accepting who you are. Professor Klump wants to be somebody he is not, until he realises that people actually love him as he is.

I would consider 'The Nutty Professor' one of the best comedies of the 90s and an absolute masterclass from Eddie Murphy.

big laughs

[Special-K88 · 25 April 2002]

In order to gain the affections of a sexy colleague, and more importantly feel better about his overall self-deprecating image, shy, grossly overweight genetics professor Murphy takes an experimental serum that transforms him into a charismatic, testosterone-driven hunk. Things go quickly awry however when he starts to lose his own identity and battle his alter ego for complete control. This Jekyll & Hyde formula is familiar but it's elevated by fresh, consistent laughs, clever and innovative gags, terrific make-up/special effects and a delightful performance from Murphy who's absolutely hysterical as he portrays each member of his family. Lots of fun. ***

Good classic, but falls back on easy humor

[tessbg-90012 · 6/10 · 3 July 2022]

The Nutty Professor is a good 90s comedy classic. It was fun to watch and entertaining at times, it just didn't quite suit my humor. It often falls back on juvenile humor like the stand-up comedian making your mama jokes, the fat jokes, and the many and multiple fart jokes. I think these jokes and the entire premise of the movie would've been better received about 20 years ago. It was still an entertaining movie and was very sweet and touching at times. 6/10.

Klump sweet character

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 16 May 2016]

Sherman Klump (Eddie Murphy) is an overweight professor at Wellman College. He's working on a weight lost formula that actually restructures DNA. Dean Richmond (Larry Miller) is not a fan of Klump who has lost him lots of donors. They need to get the last rich alumni Harlan Hartley (James Coburn). New teacher Carla Purty (Jada Pinkett Smith) is a Klump fan. When she accepts a date with him, he tries to lose weight. After getting embarrassed on the date, he decides to take his own formula which turns him into the smooth operator Buddy Love.

This is not for anybody who gets offended by fat jokes. There is plenty of that plus loads of fart jokes. It's saved by a very appealing character in Sherman Klump. He's a nice guy. The romance is sweet with Jada playing a sweet girl. It's actually very sad when the comic picks on him. I like the guy but the fat jokes aren't funny to me. This is a nice take on Jekyll & Hyde.

Not very funny

[Calicodreamin · 5/10 · 8 September 2021]

The Nutty professor does have a few funny moments, but for the most part the jokes fall flat. Also, for a movie that's main 'message' is acceptance... it relies pretty heavily on fat jokes. Eddie Murphy does a good job creating unique characters, but the storyline and humor just don't work.

Silly, Sad, and Poignant Film at times!

[Sylviastel · 7/10 · 28 May 2008]

Eddie Murphy transforms himself with the help of the Oscar winning make-up team into an array of characters known as the Klump family, Buddy Love, and Dr. Sherman Klump, an overweight lonely professor. He becomes Buddy Love when Sherman develops a formula to thin him down but the formula does not last as long as he would like it too. It's not permanent. He becomes a full-fledged Buddy Love, the man who is thin and goes after the ladies unlike never before. The scenes with Dave Chappelle as the comedian who pokes fun and cruelty at the overweight Sherman is quite sad. Murphy delivers in his role and many roles on screen. As Dr. Sherman Klump, you like him the best because he is the kindest and sweeter than Buddy Love who only thinks about himself. As the Klump family, Murphy proves that there is nothing he can't or won't do to get a laugh at the audience. But enough with the fart jokes around the dining room table, the movie also includes James Coburn and Jada Pinket Smith as the woman of Sherman's desire who goes after Buddy but she does not realize he's the same person. It isn't the acting but the make-up that shows how Sherman to Buddy transformation can be.

Sweet -N- Offensive

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 5/10 · 7 January 2006]

Well, um, I'm not sure what to say about "The Nutty Professor". I have heard a few parodies on this movie and some have said this is a decent comedy. But for the most part, this movie broke my heart because I used to be over weight and recently dropped all the pounds, so I felt for Sherman. But I felt that the movie really over did it on the fat jokes because I know some people that exercise and do whatever they can to loose weight and it's almost impossible. So I felt that in some ways this movie was cruel and unrealistic. But it had a very sweet side and it had it's occasional jokes that could get a little laugh. So, I'd recommend over all, but then again, if you are very touchy on weight jokes, you might want to skip.

5/10

One of my "worst-ever" films

[POG-2 · 1/10 · 7 September 2000]

I happened to watch this film by accident with a friend and both of us were soon deeply embarrassed to be sitting in the cinema with people who actually enjoy this. The humour is totally obnoxious and the values are somehow all wrong. I also saw the version with Jerry Lewis and I don't think the two films are alike in the way they use humour. If Jerry Lewis bears any resemblance to another living actor than maybe to Jim Carrey (for example in "Me, Myself and Irene") but never to Eddie Murphy.

A Real Showcase For Eddie Murphy

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 2 July 2006]

A general nasty tone to this comedy prevented me from rating this a "9" or a "10," but it does have a ton of laughs, courtesy of Eddie Murphy. He's at is best when he's at the dinner table playing everyone but the kid. That is one of the funniest scenes I remember from any 1990s comedy.

His humor is very crude in here (another PG-13 rating that is ludicrous) but very funny in spots, too. With that kind of humor, it's easy to go over the line of "good taste" which he does on occasion. Overall, however, Murphy is remarkable as all these characters. I believe he plays seven in all. This is probably his biggest 'showcase' ever on film, demonstrating his comedic talents.

Even though this has a childlike-romance-type feel to it, and a nice message about bias against fat people, there are so many raunchy and downright nasty lines - mainly at the comedy club or the dinner table - that it's certainly not recommended for kids. This is a LONG way away from the original Jerry Lewis movie. Still....for adults, this movie provides a lot of laughs.

One of Eddie Murphy's best

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 28 July 2000]

Eddie Murphy proves that he can always give multiple roles to films and TV show here with this remake of the 1963 script. Difference, this time it is with a black cast and instead of being a loser and ugly, Dr. Sherman Klump is a guy who wants to be thin and liked. He does this, and becomes Buddy Love. Filled with hilarity, but also some heart (and a message) with the point that it doesn't matter how much you weigh. What matters is if you believe in yourself. One of Eddie's best and of the year 1996. A+

Murphy hilarious in all seven of his characters.

[smla02 · 5 January 2003]

*** 1/2

Starring: Eddie Murphy (x 7), Jada Pinkett Smith, and Larry Miller.

An obese college professor starts to fall for a pretty teacher. He doesn't think that people will like him if he was fat, so he uses a weight-losing potion he created on himself. It works perfectly, and the professor is extremely thin. Now, people treat him differently than when he was fat. But he soon finds out that the "thin" side of him has a mind of its own and is looking to get rid of the "plump" side forever.

Murphy does excellent in all seven roles that are given to him. The scene(s) that really make it funny are the dinner ones. I will say that on a low note, Buddy is a little over the top.

I highly recommend it.

Wonderfully Funny Comedy

[aesgaard41 · 7/10 · 26 January 2001]

It takes a comedy like this to make anyone who has ever felt fat feel a little bit better about themself. Eddie Murphy is the one to watch as he stretches himself into five or six different characters and moons over the lovely Jada Pinkett. He looks hilarious with that "little devil grin" that his role Buddy Love is always flashing. Larry Miller is a perfect comedy foil and John Ales is a funny if nerdy sidekick. This movie is a lot funnier than its dated and worn predecessor.

Eddie Murphy is back in full force in a remake (sort of) of an old Jerry Lewis vehicle.

[chrisbrown6453 · 6/10 · 20 June 2002]

Special effects have come a long way since 1963, but they are needlessly overused in the 1996 version of The Nutty Professor. Eddie Murphy changes size and appearance so drastically and so often that we could call him Eddie Morphy. He is terrific playing any number of characters, but all the technical fireworks eventually grow distracting and get in his way.

Sherman Klump is a shy 400-pound university prof, an expert in body chemistry. He has developed a magic weight loss formula in the lab and decides to become his own human guinea pig. Zap! Fat Sherman is transformed into the trim, foul-mouthed womanizer Buddy Love. Now his dreams can come true, right? Well, not quite. Pretty Carla Purty, the object of his affection, isn't exactly in love with Love. There are some genuine belly laughs here as Sherman blows up and down, though one fart joke goes a long way. Twenty fart jokes seem to go on forever. Murphy creates a wonderful character in Sherman, and we feel his pain and embarrassment. This emotional involvement gives The Nutty Professor unexpected depth and shows what Murphy can do when given the opportunity.

Funny, but with one lovable character and one irritating character

[CWP- · 6/10 · 20 September 1999]

My Age: 13

Professor Sherman Klump, played by Eddie Murphy, is an overweight teacher who falls in love with a new teacher at his school, Carla Purty, played by Jada Pinkett. He wants to lose weight fast and begins testing his DNA restructuring medicines (to lose weight) on himself. The new product: Buddy Love, played by Eddie Murphy. Unlike Sherman, Buddy has a sex life, and he goes out with Carla also. There is also someone on campus trying to make big money with Sherman's potion, but he is more impressed by Buddy, who he thinks is behind all the real work.

The Nutty Professor is quite a funny film, with a lovable and good character in Professor Sherman Klump, but it also has a character who you like at first, but then there's too much of him, and his quick tauntings get annoying and irritating. That character is Buddy Love. However, this character does not stop The Nutty Professor from being a good film. I enjoyed the conversations at the Klump family's dinner table and the whole idea of the miracle potion. The romance in this film is also better than expected, and I loved how Eddie Murphy played almost his entire family. The make up and effects done to make Eddie Murphy into a fat, overweight man like Sherman are also very good. Overall, the only annoying thing in the film is Buddy Love.

Australian Classification: M 15+: Sexual References

Rating: 66 out of 100

Sucky, sucky, sucky...

[Auryn-4 · 1/10 · 14 August 2000]

Eddie Murphy is not funny anymore. And in this comedy-version of dr Jekyll and mr Hyde, Murphy plays almost every role in the film, thus effectively preventing someone else from rescuing this horrible movie.

Is that a computer-animated waistline the fat guy has? If so, it's the least credible animation ever.

Sucky, sucky, sucky...

Eddie Murphy delivers a hilarious performance as the hugely overweight Sherman Klump (as well as six or seven other equally amusing characters) in a faithful re-make of Jerry Lewis' 1963 comedy classic.

[Anonymous_Maxine · 7/10 · 28 August 2000]

In 1963 Jerry Lewis wrote and starred in the original Nutty Professor, as a hopelessly geeky chemistry professor who invents a serum that transforms him into the smooth and inexplicably charismatic Buddy Love. Eddie Murphy has adopted this idea and starred as a tremendously obese but extremely intelligent professor who invents a serum that does the same thing.

The make-up is a significant part of this film, since Murphy plays a total of seven different characters (only one of which he plays looking at all like himself), and it is done spectacularly. The dinner scenes at the Klump household are some of the highlights of the film; Murphy plays the entire family wonderfully and hilariously. There is something to be said for the clever editing that gives the illusion that all of these members of the dysfunctional Klump family are all siting around the same table at the same time, even though the whole family (except for Ernie Klump Jr.) is played by the same man. Way to go Eddie.

However, despite Murphy's delightful performance as the Klump family, his antics as the excessively confident and loudly obnoxious Buddy Love get very tiring very quick. In particular I recall the scenes where he finds the act of an offensive comedian to be the funniest thing he's ever heard. The whole scene where he winds up throwing the guy in the piano is just too childish to pay enough respect to the hilarious original (except for when Reggie, the comedian, took his hat off. THAT was funny).

The re-make of The Nutty Professor is a well-made comedy. It is very faithful to the hilarious original, yet it also has a personality of its own. The film's message is exactly the same as the original, but the subtle (and some not so subtle) differences between the two make it worth the time to watch them both. The 1996 version took the advances of special effects and make-up and used them to add to the original story and make a bigger (but not necessarily funnier) film.

The Stupid 'Nutty Professor'

[mybiglarch · 1/10 · 26 September 2007]

With all the obscenities and vulgarities not unexpected from a Eddie Murphy movie, this version of 'The Nutty Professor' insults its audience with a flurry of stupid jokes and cheap shots. I do not know why they even chose to do a re-make of the great Lewis movie of 1963. It is devoid of any sympathetic characters, clever writing, good acting, and human sentiment. Save your hard earned dollars and watch the 1963 version instead. It is sad that they had to make this trash to satisfy modern audiences. With the original version, Mr. Love's character was so suave and cool, and the professor character was a great counterbalance to his 'other side'. Here, Murphy's character has no redeeming qualities to evoke any sympathy from us; with so many potty scenes and dialogue throughout, no wonder.

Amusing Eddie Murphy comedy

[Wuchakk · 7/10 · 10 December 2016]

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+

Very Funny Parts, but Flat Overall

[thespeos · 5/10 · 24 May 2021]

There are some funny scenes in this film and playing multiple roles well highlights Murphy's talent. But ...

1. This is mostly slap-stick comedy.

2. While the story has been told, there are some new facets. Nonetheless, the story is sadly thin.

3. The acting is OK, but terribly sketched / mechanical. Pinkett-Smith has been trying to act for years, but she has little to offer. Chappelle is a brilliant stand-up (near the best).

4. This is largely a venue for Murphy to wax stand-up, which is why it simply doesn't hold together as a film.

5. I watched this (again) mostly for the dinner antics ... very, very funny ... if you like potty humor.

6. The director's resume matches the film's quality. Not great.

Overall, a rather flat movie.

Pure Brilliance from Murphy

[DJBurfitt · 6 May 2003]

In my opinion this is one of the funniest movies you will ever see. This Eddie Murphy at his brilliant best playing seven different characters in the one movie. This is pretty much a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde routine with Professor Sherman Klump (Murphy) creating a weight loss formula which transforms him into Buddy Love (Murphy). The best scenes of the movie are the dinner scenes at the Klump house where almost every character you see is Eddie Murphy. Very few other actors could have pulled this off. 10/10

Eddie Murphy :)

[jack_o_hasanov_imdb · 6/10 · 26 August 2021]

I found the VHS at my grandfather's house when I was a kid. I think my uncle bought it :) I didn't understand much when I watched it as a kid, but it was enjoyable.

Needs cleansing

[rose-294 · 3/10 · 24 March 2008]

Offending to fat people? Not at all. This sweet-overweighed-professor- vs.-the-nasty-filthy-"fatists" story is a good-hearted idea ruined by the thin (excuse the pun) script polluted not by fat-hating but disgusting scatological jokes. They are sometimes targeted against the scummy people who torment the endearing professor, but being witty and sharp and pulverizing your enemy is not the same thing than this kind of ... well, writing. MY advice to the fatists: Stop polluting the world with your filthy perversions. My advice to the screenwriters: Make better scripts! Now this movie is like a nasty fat-mocking person: with all the tactics of the toilet seat.

WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL EVEN IS THIS?

[nharvey-88536 · 2/10 · 10 July 2021]

Seems like the 90's where a dark age for Hollywood comedy movies, and this is definitely one of the worst comedy movies I've seen in my entire life!!!!! Eddie Murphy's performance is stupid, the plot is one of the worst plots ever, and the whole film is just a cringefest, I just hope whoever's planning to watch this movie doesn't plan to watch it, just please don't watch it!!

How do ya like that?

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 19 April 2006]

After several years of worthless movies (namely "Boomerang" and "Vampire in Brooklyn"), Eddie Murphy made his comeback with "The Nutty Professor", a remake of the Jerry Lewis classic. He plays overweight Prof. Sherman Klump, who invents a potion that turns him into the cool but mean Buddy Love.

Overall, it seems that the movie is a big excuse to be crazy. And that's just what they do. Looking back on it, they probably could have done without all the flatulence, but that dream sequence was still a hoot. My favorite scene was either the parts with Dave Chappelle, or the whole end sequence.

Obviously, they changed a number of things from the original version. Actually, I must have been only eight when I saw the original version, so I'll have to see it again. But either way, this is a comedy classic. And it just goes to show that Eddie Murphy does best when he goes for straightforward clever comedy and doesn't degenerate into things like "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" or "Daddy Day Care". A modern classic. Also starring Jada Pinkett (before she added "Smith" to her name), James Coburn and Larry Miller.