The Nutty Professor is a 1996
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
-
romantic comedy filmRomantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
starring
Eddie MurphyEdward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
. It is a
remakeA remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of the
1963 film of the same nameThe Nutty Professor is a 1963 Paramount Pictures science fiction comedy feature film produced, directed, co-written and starring Jerry Lewis...
, starring
Jerry LewisJerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
. The original music score was composed by
David NewmanDavid Louis Newman is an American composer and conductor known particularly for his film scores. In a career spanning nearly forty years, he has composed music for nearly 100 feature films.-Life and career:...
. The film won an
Academy Award for MakeupThe Academy Award for Best Makeup is the Oscar given to the best achievement in makeup for film. Usually, only three films are nominated each year rather than five as in most categories...
.
Murphy plays benevolent university professor
Sherman KlumpProfessor Sherman Klump is a fictional character portrayed by actor Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor and Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, similar to the Julius Kelp character played by Jerry Lewis in the original film. Sherman is a jolly, kind hearted science teacher at Welman College...
, who is morbidly obese. He invents a miracle
weight-lossWeight loss, in the context of medicine, health or physical fitness, is a reduction of the total body mass, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose tissue and/or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon and other connective tissue...
potion and, hoping to win the affection of the girl of his dreams, tries it on himself. Social situations demand that he call himself by a different name while he is using the potion and his slim self becomes an independent personality. Like the original film's Julius Kelp, Klump's trim and stylish (but arrogant) alter ego is also named Buddy Love. Murphy plays a total of seven characters in the film, including Sherman, most of Sherman's family (except for his nephew, Ernie "Hercules" Klump Jr. played by actor
Jamal MixonJamal Mixon is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Ernie Klump, Jr. in the film The Nutty Professor. He is the younger brother of actor Jerod Mixon....
) and an over-the-top parody of
Richard SimmonsMilton Teagle Simmons , known professionally as Richard Simmons, is an American fitness personality who promotes weight-loss programs, most famously through his Sweatin' to the Oldies line of aerobics videos and DVDs and is known for his eccentric, outgoing and frequently flamboyant personality...
. The
Clarence CarterClarence Carter is a blind American soul singer and musician.-Life and career:Born in Montgomery, Alabama on 14 January 1936, Carter attended the Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega, Alabama, and Alabama State College in Montgomery, graduating in August 1960 with a Bachelor of Science degree...
song "Strokin'" that was used when Buddy Love was first driving to the night club is not included on this soundtrack.
A sequel,
Nutty Professor II: The KlumpsNutty Professor II: The Klumps is a 2000 comedy film directed by Peter Segal. It is the sequel to the 1996 film The Nutty Professor and stars Eddie Murphy and Janet Jackson. Murphy plays not only the inept but brilliant scientist, Sherman Klump, as in the first film, but also most of Sherman's...
, was released in 2000.
Overview
The film co-stars
Jada Pinkett SmithJada Koren Pinkett Smith is an American actress, producer, director, author, singer-songwriter, and businesswoman. She began her career in 1990, when she made a guest appearance in the short-lived sitcom True Colors. She starred in A Different World, produced by Bill Cosby, and she featured...
,
John AlesJohn Ales is an American actor best known for appearing in Spy Hard, The Nutty Professor, You Wish, and more.-Film:*Crime Killer ... Kids*Spy Hard ... Kabul*The Nutty Professor ... Jason...
,
James CoburnJames Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
,
Larry MillerLawrence J. "Larry" Miller is an American actor, voice artist, comedian, podcaster, and columnist.-Early life:Miller was born in Valley Stream, New York, attended Valley Stream South High School graduating in 1971. He attended Amherst College...
, and a then little-known
Dave ChappelleDavid Khari Webber "Dave" Chappelle is an American comedian, screenwriter, television/film producer, actor, and artist. Chappelle began his film career in the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993 and continued to star in minor roles in the films The Nutty Professor, Con Air, and Blue Streak. His...
. Singer
Montell JordanMontell Jordan is a former American R&B singer-songwriter and record producer. Jordan became the main solo male artist on its Def Soul imprint until leaving the label in 2003. Of his live performances it is often regarded that he is a rock oriented musician, with Jordan even going as far as to...
has a
cameoA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
role as himself.
This was Murphy's second film not to be released by
Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
- which, coincidentally, had produced the 1963 original (and has a
joint ventureUnited International Pictures is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios , to distribute some of the two studios' films theatrically outside the United States , Canada, and the Anglophone...
with this version's distributor,
Universal StudiosUniversal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, for international distribution of both companies' films).
The film's theme song is
"Macho Man""Macho Man" is the seond single recorded by the American disco group Village People. The song "bubbled under" the charts during summer 1978 before picking up substantial airplay that August...
by The Village People.
Plot
At the fictional Wellman College, thousands of hamsters are overrunning the entire campus, causing general chaos. This is due to Professor Sherman Klump (
Eddie MurphyEdward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
) accidentally releasing them by grazing the switch that opens the hamster’s cages. Meanwhile, Sherman has constructed an experimental formula that reconstructs the DNA of an obese person in a way that will allow them to lose weight more easily.
After class, Sherman meets and instantly falls in love with Carla Purty (
Jada PinkettJada Koren Pinkett Smith is an American actress, producer, director, author, singer-songwriter, and businesswoman. She began her career in 1990, when she made a guest appearance in the short-lived sitcom True Colors. She starred in A Different World, produced by Bill Cosby, and she featured...
), a chemistry graduate student who is a big fan of his work. After dinner with his obese, impolite family (most of whom are also portrayed by Murphy), Sherman asks Carla out on a date, which she accepts, much to Sherman's pleasant surprise. At the date, it begins well with Carla showing admiration for Sherman’s work, but Sherman falls victim to the club’s insult comic Reggie Warrington (
Dave ChappelleDavid Khari Webber "Dave" Chappelle is an American comedian, screenwriter, television/film producer, actor, and artist. Chappelle began his film career in the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993 and continued to star in minor roles in the films The Nutty Professor, Con Air, and Blue Streak. His...
), who attacks him with cruel jokes about his obesity. At home, completely depressed, he has a nightmare in which he becomes a giant and lays waste to the city with just a single
fartFlatulence is the expulsion through the rectum of a mixture of gases that are byproducts of the digestion process of mammals and other animals. The medical term for the mixture of gases is flatus, informally known as a fart, or simply gas...
, which is then accidentally lit on fire. When he awakens, he yields to the temptation to try the serum on himself. It works, as he loses 250 pounds in seconds; he also develops a split personality as the high testosterone levels causes him to be overly assertive and confident.
Dubbing himself Buddy Love (also portrayed by Murphy), he invites Carla back to the club where they dated, where he heckles Reggie mercilessly and throws him into a piano. The next morning, Dean Richmond (Larry Miller) has set up a meeting with Harlan Hartley (
James CoburnJames Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
) at The Ritz to have Sherman describe the serum. Sherman arrives at The Ritz as Buddy Love with Carla. When the dean spots him, Carla asks Buddy if he will take Sherman’s place. He does, and he takes all the credit of his work to Hartley. Hartley and the dean are very impressed with his work, and the dean invites him to the alumni ball.
Sherman, having enough of his alter ego, destroys all of the serum samples, but transforms into Buddy again after sipping a diet drink that Buddy has filled with the serum. Sherman’s young assistant Jason (
John AlesJohn Ales is an American actor best known for appearing in Spy Hard, The Nutty Professor, You Wish, and more.-Film:*Crime Killer ... Kids*Spy Hard ... Kabul*The Nutty Professor ... Jason...
) tries to stop him from going to the ball, but Buddy knocks him out and departs. At the ball, Buddy demonstrates the effects of the serum to the audience, but Jason arrives in time, as he has found out that Buddy’s testosterone levels are at a lethally high 60,000%. The two of them get into a brief fist fight, but Sherman begins to fight Buddy from within. Sherman eventually transforms into his regular self and tells the alumni that he should accept himself for who he is. As he leaves, Carla stops him and asks why he lied; he says he did not believe that she would accept him, but she says it doesn’t matter if he is overweight or not. The film ends with Sherman and Carla dancing, and Hartley giving the grant to Sherman because he is "a brilliant scientist and a gentleman." Outtakes of the film are shown before the credits roll.
Cast
- Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
as Professor Sherman Klump / Buddy Love / The Klump Family / Lance Perkins
- Jada Pinkett
Jada Koren Pinkett Smith is an American actress, producer, director, author, singer-songwriter, and businesswoman. She began her career in 1990, when she made a guest appearance in the short-lived sitcom True Colors. She starred in A Different World, produced by Bill Cosby, and she featured...
as Carla Purty
- John Ales
John Ales is an American actor best known for appearing in Spy Hard, The Nutty Professor, You Wish, and more.-Film:*Crime Killer ... Kids*Spy Hard ... Kabul*The Nutty Professor ... Jason...
as Jason
- James Coburn
James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
as Harlan Hartley
- Larry Miller as Dean Richmond
- Dave Chappelle
David Khari Webber "Dave" Chappelle is an American comedian, screenwriter, television/film producer, actor, and artist. Chappelle began his film career in the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993 and continued to star in minor roles in the films The Nutty Professor, Con Air, and Blue Streak. His...
as Reggie Warrington
- Jamal Mixon
Jamal Mixon is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Ernie Klump, Jr. in the film The Nutty Professor. He is the younger brother of actor Jerod Mixon....
as Ernie Klump Jr.
Production
- The first Tom Shadyac
Thomas Peter "Tom" Shadyac is an American comedian, director, screenwriter, and producer. Shadyac, who was the youngest joke-writer ever for comedian Bob Hope, is widely known for writing and directing the films Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Nutty Professor, Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty, and the...
film to feature outtakes over the closing credits. See also Liar, Liar and Bruce AlmightyBruce Almighty is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. It stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a down-on-his-luck TV reporter who complains to God that He isn't doing His job correctly, and is then offered the chance to try...
.
- The film also features a series of scenes with Murphy and comedian Dave Chappelle
David Khari Webber "Dave" Chappelle is an American comedian, screenwriter, television/film producer, actor, and artist. Chappelle began his film career in the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993 and continued to star in minor roles in the films The Nutty Professor, Con Air, and Blue Streak. His...
who plays insult comic, Reggie Warrington. Much of their dialogue was improvised. Murphy was one of Chappelle's biggest comedic influences.
- The cruel nightclub comedian, "Reggie Warrington" is named after Reginald and Warrington Hudlin, brothers and directors of Murphy's previous film Boomerang.
- While the film was made with the blessing of Jerry Lewis (he was an executive producer for both this film and the 2000 sequel Nutty Professor II: The Klumps), he later recanted his position in an interview in the January 30th/February 6th 2009 edition of Entertainment Weekly magazine. He is quoted as saying, "I have such respect for Eddie, but I should not have done it. What I did was perfect the first time around and all you're going to do is diminish that perfection by letting someone else do it. When he had to do fart jokes, he lost me."
Reception
The Nutty Professor is ranked as "fresh" on
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
with a 67% positive rating. The film is #70 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".
Awards
- 69th Academy Awards
The 69th Academy Awards were dominated by movies produced by independent studios, financed outside of mainstream Hollywood, leading to 1996 being dubbed "The Year of the Independents". All but one of the nominees for Best Picture were low-budget independent movies The 69th Academy Awards were...
- 54th Golden Globe Awards
The 54th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 1996, were held on 19 January 1997.-Best Actor – Drama: Geoffrey Rush – Shine* Ralph Fiennes – The English Patient* Mel Gibson – Ransom...
- Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy (Nominated)
Soundtrack
| Year |
Title |
Chart positions |
Certifications
(sales thresholdsMusic recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
) |
| U.S. The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
|
U.S. R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
|
| 1996 |
The Nutty Professor The Nutty Professor soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 1996 comedy film, The Nutty Professor. It was released on 1996 through Def Jam Recordings and contained hip hop and R&B music. The album fared well on the Billboard charts, peaking at #8 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop...
- Released: June 4, 1996
- Label: Def Jam
Def Jam Recordings is an American record label, focused primarily on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as a part of The Island Def Jam Motown Music Group...
|
8 |
1 |
USThe Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
: Platinum |
External links