Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000) - Murphy brings down the house

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Star Eddie Murphy as five laugh-inducing Klump characters on the poster for Peter Segal's Nutty Professor II: The Klumps

Sherman has fallen in love with another professor, but he is still haunted by the uncouth, harassing voice of Buddy Love. To gain momentum in his endeavor to score, he invents an elixir for rejuvenation.

 

Nutty Professor II: The Klumps is written by Barry W. Blaustein (Coming 2 America (2021)), David Sheffield (Boomerang (1992)), and Paul and Chris Weitz (Antz (1998), both), with Steve Oederkerk (Smart Alex (1987)) contributing story elements, and directed by Peter Segal (Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)). It is the sequel to The Nutty Professor (1996), itself a remake of The Nutty Professor (1963) with Jerry Lewis.

There are many loosely connected and barely comprehensible plot elements here in this colorful sequel, but the main thing is that it results in many laughs and a once again very enjoyable time in the company of Eddie Murphy's (Metro (1997)) wacky-vulgar Klump family. His multiple performances here are incredible; Janet Jackson (Poetic Justice (1993)) is sweet; and the film is a genuine shot of low-brow great spirits.

The buffet scene is priceless. There seem to possibly be less (but still funny) fart jokes here than in the predecessor, as well as some good fantasy sequences. This is for the silly-minded comedy fans.

Related posts:

 

Peter Segal: Get Smart (2008) - Segal presents another commercially mandated rehash

The Longest Yard (2005) - A few laughs register in shallow, overlong MTV-produced sports comedy remake

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 84 mil. $

Box office: 166.3 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.97 times its cost)

[Nutty Professor II: The Klumps premiered 24 July (USA) and runs 109 minutes. Murphy was paid 20 mil. $ + reportedly 20 % of the gross for his performance in the film; Jackson 5 mil. $. Murphy's deal may have made it the most profitable film for him in his career, possibly netting him more than 60 mil. $. Shooting took place from October 1999 - February 2000 in California, including Los Angeles. It opened #1 to a 42.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#5), grossing 123.3 mil. $ (74.1 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Segal returned with Anger Management (2003). Murphy returned with a voice performance in Shrek (2000) and physically in Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001). Nutty Professor II: The Klumps is rotten at 26 % with a 4.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Nutty Professor II: The Klumps?

Coming to America (1988) - Landis and Murphy's second, amusing but less well-constructed collaboration

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The beautifully painted poster for John Landis' Coming to America

QUICK REVIEW:

An African prince is not satisfied with an arranged marriage at home in his kingdom and instead travels to America to fall in love with a woman who thinks for herself.

The first half of Coming to America is totally gaga in Africa with a high-spirited James Earl Jones (The Lion King (1994), voice) as the king. Eddie Murphy (Trading Places (1983)) lands fresh in the US with his beautiful traveling companion Arsenio Hall (Black Dynamite (2009)). The movie is silly and funny for a while.
But then the plot grows increasingly illogical; plot points get delayed (something has to fill out those excessive 117 minutes...), and the phony romance booms... The last 20 minutes of the film are downright embarrassingly poorly written (by screenwriters David Sheffield and Barry W. Blaustein (The Nutty Professor (1996)), following a story synopsis by Murphy.)
Coming to America was the second Murphy-starring comedy by master director John Landis (The Blues Brothers (1980)) after the much better Trading Places. They would work together again, despite Landis' complaining that Murphy was a "pig of the world" on the America set, in Beverly Hills Cop III (1994).

Related reviews:

John Landis: The Twilight Zone (1983) - Fear takes many forms in tragedy-struck anthology
An American Werewolf in London (1981) - Landis' great, funny, scary wolf
The Blues Brothers (1980) - Try to sit still to this one!

Arsenio Hall and Eddie Murphy in John Landis' Coming to America

Watch the funny trailer for the film here

Cost: 39 mil. $
Box office: 288.7 mil. $
= Huge hit
[The movie was the 3rd biggest hit at the US box office that year, and Paramount's biggest hit of the year. It was both big in the US (128.1 mil. $/44% of the total gross), where it was released without press screenings (due to negative reactions in a local New York press screening) and internationally (160.6 mil. $/56 %). In 1988, Eddie Murphy was hot!]

What do you think of Coming to America?
What's your favorite Eddie Murphy movie and why?