Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)
Directed by Peter Segal
Artistic Value:
Entertainment Value: ½

Synopsis
Rotund professor Sherman Klump (Eddie Murphy) is engaged to be married to a slim, beautiful woman (Janet Jackson) who loves him for his mind, but Buddy Love, his annoying, thin self from the first movie, reappears and attempts to profit from a youth restoring potion Sherman has invented.

Analysis
Nutty Professor II is much like its predecessor. It is formulaic in structure, generally uninventive, and consistently predictable. No person who begins watching the movie will be surprised by any of the events depicted, nor could he possibly fail to foresee its outcome.

Eddie Murphy again appears in a variety of costumes as all the members of the Klump family, and his portrayals of this uncouth group give the film a modicum of interest. While none of his characterizations is remarkably inventive, most are funny. Sherman's randy grandmother is especially memorable and entertaining. With her enormous breasts writhing under her nightgown like a pair of dying pythons, she is uncomfortable to watch and frequently hysterical.

She is, I might add, fairly typical of the kinds of devices used by the director to make the viewer laugh. Virtually every comedic element in the film either refers to bodily functions or evokes humor by placing the characters in various unpleasant situations. In one scene, for instance, the unctuous dean ever troubling Sherman is raped by a gargantuan mutated hamster accidentally produced by the professor's youth formula. In another, Sherman's grandmother attempts to seduce Buddy Love, despite his obvious disgust at her interest, and so on. Some of these efforts are funny, but most rely on tired and over used material that can be seen in many other films.

While there are humorous moments scattered throughout the movie, the narrative and jokes of Nutty Professor II are generally utterly predictable and uninspired.

Review by Keith Allen

Home Page / Alphabetical List of Films
List of Films by Star Ratings
Aesthetic Principles / Guide to Ratings
Criteria for Inclusion / DVD Stores / Blog

© 2004 movierapture@hotmail.com Keith Allen. All rights reserved.
Revised 2005