NUTTY PROFESSOR 2: THE KLUMPS RATING: 5/10 --> Not a good movie
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Eddie Murphy used to be a great comedian. Then, he became a funny actor. Then, he took a shot at singing and quickly realized that his talents weren't as widespread as he believed, so he continued his pace at original comedy. Nowadays, Murphy seems to have become a cash cow, delivering many generic roles in retreads of formerly popular films from Christmas past. His humor seems to be attached to the latex that his characters inhabit and his jokes no longer have that Murphy "punch". BOWFINGER was a step in the right direction. This film is a step in the wrong direction.
PLOT: Professor Sherman Klump's alter-ego Buddy Love does not want him to get married to the love of his life, Denise, so he breaks free of Sherman's body and attempts to take credit for his fat chum's invention, a revolutionary youth serum. All kinds of craziness ensues.
CRITIQUE: A few big laughs and Granny Klump don't excuse this film's lame plot, over-sentimentality and many gross, unfunny and regurgitated jokes. And why slap in a "heartfelt" scene every few minutes? I know that we're supposed to feel sorry for Sherman Klump because he's fat and lonely at times, but we got that the first time that you struck us over the head with it...now make us laugh, dammit! Over-the-top sexual innuendoes, potty humor and fart jokes just didn't do much for me in this film. I think that it's the kind of movie that you're either gonna like or not like. Many people walked out of the audience that I saw it with, but many others were laughing out loud. I chuckled every now and again, mostly when Mother Klump and Granny Klump were in the forefront, but found much of the story to be very, very boring, and Eddie Murphy's primary characters of Sherman and Buddy Love to be the least interesting.
And you'd figure that with a title like THE KLUMPS, the studio would have focused more on the secondary Murphy characters, but other than a tired running sketch between Mother and Father Klump (something about him not being able to hold an erection...haha), none of them were really developed further. Make a film starring Granny Klump going on vacation or something, and I'm there! But watching Murphy overact as Buddy Love and overplay his sad puppy look as Sherman just annoyed the hell out of my after a while. And what's with some of the embarrassingly generic comedy bits like Sherman accidentally slipping the table cloth into his zipper and then getting up...haha, guess what happens to everything on the table? Is this supposed to be fresh comedy? Don't think so! Felt a lot like Archie comic book jokes to me. Janet, Ms. Jackson (cause I'm nasty), does an okay job as the one-dimensional girlfriend who loves Sherman despite him acting like an ass every minute, but no one really cares much about her. On the other hand, a shout-out does definitely go out to Eddie Murphy who once again amazes as all of these different characters (all flawlessly executed), but I personally think that he has overextended his "latex" card with this one. How's about you get back to some real original Eddie Murphy comedy, dude? Enough of the retreads!
Overall, this movie will either amuse you with its few big funny moments and Granny Klump disgusting eroticism, or bore you with its genericism, indescribably inane plot and mumbling dialogue. In fact, much of the dialogue between the family members is lost because of overlapping and hard-to-decipher mumbling.
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: One dream sequence in this film pays homage to three science-fiction films including STAR WARS, ARMAGEDDON and 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. Why you may ask? I have no idea! Eddie Murphy plays no less than six characters in this film: Sherman Klump, Buddy Love, Mama, Papa, Ernie and Granny. The transformation in girth that each character required demanded that Murphy endure between 3 to 5 hours of extensive make-up every day. Actor/comedian Chris Elliot has a three-second "cameo" in this film (or is that a part?). Yikes, who's your agent, dude? Janet Jackson, a singer who has sold over 45 million albums worldwide, also used to play Willis' (Todd Bridges) girlfriend in the popular TV sitcom "Different Strokes". This is Murphy's third collaboration with producer Brian Grazer. They also worked on LIFE and BOWFINGER together. Director Peter Segal's directorial debut was on NAKED GUN 33 1/3. He followed that up with MY FELLOW AMERICANS and TOMMY BOY. Co-screenwriters Paul and Chris Weitz made their own feature film debuts as directors of 1999's teen comedy romp AMERICAN PIE.
Review Date: July 26, 2000 Director: Peter Segal Writers: Paul & Chris Weitz, Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield Producer: Brian Grazer Actors: Eddie Murphy as Sherman Klump/various Janet Jackson as Denise Gaines Genre: Comedy Year of Release: 2000 ------------------------------------ JoBlo's Movie Emporium http://www.joblo.com/ ------------------------------------ (c) 2000 Berge Garabedian
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