The Movie Guys: ‘Nutty Professor’ sequel reeks of crude humor

Friday, July 28, 2000 | 9:16 a.m.

The Movie Guys, starring Jeff Howard and Dave Neil, appears Fridays in the Sun. They can als o be seen on the 11 a.m. Friday newscast on KVVU Channel 5. Plus, check them out online at lasvegassun.com/sun/sunlife/ movies and themovieguys.com.

Grades: Jeff D, Dave D.

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Janet Jackson, Larry Miller, John Ales.

Screenplay: Barry W. Blaustein, David Sheffield, Paul Weitz, Chris Weitz.

Director: Peter Segal.

Rated: PG-13 for crude humor, language and sexual-related material.

Running time: 110 minutes.

Playing at: UA Showcase 8, UA Rainbow Promenade 10, Century Orleans, Century Cinedome 12 Henderson, Rancho Santa Fe 16, Las Vegas Drive-in, Regal Cinemas Boulder Station, Regal Cinemas Sunset Station, Regal Cinemas Colonnade 14, Regal Cinemas Texas Station 18, Regal Cinemas Village Square 18.

Synopsis: The portly and good-natured Professor Sherman Klump (Eddie Murphy) might have beaten his aggressive alter ego Buddy Love (also Murphy) the first time, but now he must take him on one-on-one after extracting Buddy's DNA from his system. In doing so, Buddy lays claim to Sherman's new invention of a revolutionary youth serum and begins to interrupt the Klump family home.

Dave: I recollect with great joy the days when Murphy could make audiences genuinely laugh. Looking back on those years with such films as "Trading Places" (1983), "Beverly Hills Cop" (1984) and "Coming to America" (1988), I fondly recall how brilliant this comic was and I desperately long for his return to what made him funny in the first place -- his quick wit, sparkling smile and unique personality.

However, after viewing his latest feature (the sequel to the halfway endearing 1997 original) this is not what I had in mind. The fact is, this film draws from an incoherent script and the audience is always one step ahead as the story drudges forth and comic relief comes only sparingly in flashes.

Jeff: Let's set the record straight and make it clear that Murphy is absolutely amazing in "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps." Accepting the challenge once again of playing each and every one of the Klump family members and enduring hours upon hours of sitting in a makeup chair, day after day, we applaud him. A true comic genius. Each character has no trace of Murphy's personality and takes on its own unique and hilarious identity, a feat that only the late Peter Sellers could successfully accomplish.

Again, as with Murphy's first "Nutty Professor," the film cannot decide if it's to be a family film or a vulgar adult comedy. Example: Take the scene where Sherman asks his sweetheart's hand in marriage by having fireflies spell out his proposal along a romantic lakeside skyline. Compare that later with a thousand-pound hamster sodomizing Wellman University's Dean Richmond (Larry Miller) at a news conference.

They made two different films and stuck them together. Too many flatulence jokes and too many off-color circumstances that tug at the heart of the film, a message about true love and family, intertwined with obscene humor one would associate with the late Redd Foxx. I knew it was going to be a headache when I read that four different writers had worked on the film during the opening credits, usually a bad sign.

Dave: Rather than the Jekyll-and-Hyde scenario, the sequel takes another direction as Sherman finds alter ego Buddy Love resurfacing in untimely outbursts, threatening his everyday activities and his marriage plans with his university colleague Denise Gaines (Janet Jackson).

After Sherman attempts to get rid of his disruptive subconscious, at whatever expense, Buddy emerges full-bodied into Sherman's world and threatens to take credit for his astounding invention of a youth serum. Sounds enjoyable enough, right? I tried to make sense of a dream sequence involving Sherman in an "Armageddon" takeoff that served little purpose, other than what I figure as a lazy attempt at filler. The multitalented Jackson, whose sweet-natured charm blends nicely with the Klumps, is unfortunately left as a lowly supportive device.

Finally, in the film's effort to convey the sincere laughs that I believe we have come to expect from any movie branded with the name Eddie Murphy, "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps" only panders to viewers with easy jokes and predictable punch lines that will place any Murphy fan into a cinematic coma.

Jeff: As a patron said to me after the screening, "They should have omitted 'Nutty Professor' out of the title and just left 'The Klumps.' He was right. The film shines when the Klumps are together, dealing with family problems, growing pains, and simply gathering for the evening dinner.

You'll never forget having dinner with the Klumps. "All you can eat," simply means that and they leave nothing left at the buffet (except the salad) and some side-splitting conversation. The makeup by five-time Academy Award winner artist Rick Baker is absolutely stunning.

He transforms Murphy into some of the most memorable characters ever, with Granny coming away on top, stealing all of her scenes. We often leave this perfect setting to go back to the dismal sub-plot that Dave has already mentioned -- the decoy that possesses the vulgar and offensive humor that had parents in the screening scratching their heads.

Parents asked afterward, "Why the need for such smutty humor?" and a mother said "I never would have brought my 8-year-old." I agree and I can't believe that Jerry Lewis (who served as executive producer) would allow his strict code of ethics, integrity and legacy to be dragged through the mud and given a black eye. This sequel had the golden opportunity to travel in a new direction, but took a cheap and crude approach that left us disappointed.