Years ago,
I saw Eddie Murphy live at the James L. Knight Center in Downtown Miami.
He was doing "Raw," and it was a great show. At the time, I was
a very big fan and he was on top of the world. He could do no wrong... or
so I thought. His career took a nose dive and he went from being America's
biggest box office draw to just another actor waiting for a hit movie. When
"The Nutty Professor" was released, he finally got his hit movie,
and it was a BIG hit. Eddie Murphy was doing what he did best. Like in one
of his biggest hits of all-time, "Coming to America," he played
multiple characters wearing all different kinds of make-up. The best thing
about "The Nutty Professor" was a dinner table scene where all
of the Klumps are eating like pigs, burping, farting, and insulting each
other. Eddie Murphy played almost all of the characters, and it was absolutely
hilarious. With the sequel, it seems like they wanted to add more scenes
like that, more scenes with the family, and give each of the Klumps their
own little story. This is in addition to the main story that focuses on
the main character, "Sherman Klump." The result is a movie that
has some absolutely hilarious moments, and I laughed my ass off during parts
of the movie, but the plot is so silly, so ridiculously far-fetched, and
so bad, that I couldn't enjoy the movie as much as I wanted to.
Rick Baker is the guy who does the make-up in this movie, and the man is
unbelievable. He first got everyone's attention in the early 80s with "An
American Werewolf in London" (please don't confuse this with the horrible
sequel, "An American Werewolf in Paris"). He also worked on Michael
Jackson's "Thriller" video and all of the Eddie Murphy movies
where he plays different characters and wears lotsa make-up. Rick Baker
has done MUCH more than that, but if I was to list 'em all, this review
would take a while. He's the top man in the business, and he's literally
revolutionized special effects make-up in movies. Rick Baker's work can't
be ignored.
Sadly, as incredible as the make-up is, that alone can't carry the movie.
And no matter how funny Eddie Murphy is (and he really is), that can't carry
the movie either. The thing is, there are some pretty talented people who
wrote this. The story is by Steve Oedekerk (helped write the first "Nutty
Professor"... he also wrote and directed "Ace Ventura: When Nature
Calls" and "Nothing to Lose") and Barry W. Blaustein (helped write other
Eddie Murphy movies including the first "Nutty Professor," "Coming
to America," and "Boomerang"... he also wrote, produced, directed, and narrated
the great documentary on pro wrestling, "Beyond
the Mat") & David Sheffield (Barry Blaustein's writing partner in the
Eddie Murphy movies). The screenplay is by Barry W. Blaustein & David Sheffield
and Paul Weitz & Chris Weitz (the Weitz brothers worked on "American
Pie" together... they also helped write "Antz").
The talent was there, but I dunno, they were just going through the ropes,
I guess. The director is Peter Segal, and he also directed "Tommy Boy."
He did fine, especially considering how difficult it is to shoot this kinda
movie, but he had a bad script to go on.
Eddie Murphy plays about 6 or 7 characters, and he's flawless. He's so good,
and he slips into those characters so easily, that I'd go so far as to say
that the performance deserves an Oscar nomination. Think about it, how many
actors can do what he does, and do it perfectly? At the very least, he deserves
a Golden Globe. Janet Jackson is in the movie, too, and I've always thought
that she was a good actress. Too bad she's got the worst storyline to work
in. Larry Miller (he was great as the father in "10
Things I Hate About You") is back as the snooty college Dean, and
he's pretty funny.
I laughed a lot during "Nutty Professor II," and there were scenes
that I really enjoyed, but I sat there rolling my eyes during the other
parts. Still, Eddie Murphy's performance is fantastic, and Rick Baker's
make-up work is perfect. If only the script was handled better. By the way,
stick around during the closing credits, okay?