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?

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

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Steve Carell's tie flies in the face of his agent colleague Anne Hathaway on this amusing poster for Peter Segal's Get Smart

Our hero Maxwell Smart of top secret US intelligence agency CONTROL goes into active field duty, - his big dream - to fight the head honcho of terror organization KAOS.

 

Get Smart is written by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember (Epic (2013), both), based on the same-titled 1965-70 TV-series by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, and directed by Peter Segal (Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)).

It is a calculated studio attempt to see whether (Mel) Brooksian comedy can be remade successfully, which in this case, however, also needs to function as action ... The result is a film that just doesn't take off despite the well-meaning efforts of its cast. Weak direction and a weaker script seem to be to blame.

The entire rehash is in some way too retrospective; partially set in Russia, and too obsessed with incorporating gags and details from the TV-series, which will be unknown to most audiences in 2008 and henceforth.

Steve Carell (Bewitched (2005)) is no Leslie Nielsen or Peter Sellers, leading men in the specific brand of duck-brained lawman spoof subgenre revisited here, but he does make Get Smart cheerful in his own dopey way.

 

Related post:

 

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

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 80 mil. $

Box office: 230.6 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 2.88 times its cost)

[Get Smart opened 19 June (South Korea + 7 other markets) and runs 110 minutes. Anne Hathaway (The Intern (2015)) was paid 5 mil. $ for her performance. Shooting took place from March - June 2007 in Moscow, Russia, Québec, including Montreal, Washington DC and in California, including Los Angeles. The film opened #1 to a 38.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weeks in the top 5 (#3-#4) and grossed 130.3 mil. $ (56.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 14.1 mil. $ (6.1 %) and Mexico with 10.4 mil. $ (4.5 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 3 notches higher than this one. The film reportedly made in excess of 36.5 mil. $ on domestic DVD sales alone. Sequel plans never came to fruition. Segal returned with In Security (2010, TV movie) and Prodigy Bully (2012, TV movie) and theatrically with Grudge Match (2013). Carell returned in Date Night (2010); Hathaway in Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control (2008, video spin-off) and theatrically in Rachel Getting Married (2008). Get Smart is rotten at 51 % with a 5.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Get Smart? 

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

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Adam Sandler and co-stars lined up in prison football gear on this testosterone-booming poster for Peter Segal's The Longest Yard

An ex-football star lands himself an extended prison sentence, and incarcerated in a middle-of-nowhere facility the warden has an idea of a quality prisoner's football team. A game against the guards looms in the distance.

The Longest Yard is written by Sheldon Turner (Up in the Air (2009)), based on the same-titled 1974 major hit, which also starred Burt Reynolds (Tempted (2001)), and directed by Peter Segal (Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)).
It is an MTV production made during the TV station's prime, which results in a shallow, lowbrow concoction, peopled with stars to cover the most vital movie-going demographics in North America: whites and blacks, with most coming from the younger generations. In line with MTV's concept it also features loads of music, both original songs and hits from past and present, noise and annoying music video type flash editing.
The Longest Yard made me laugh a couple of times, - mostly in scenes featuring the 'giant', Dalip Singh (Get Smart (2008)), who is treated as a freak and even subtitled, - and it curiously has Tracy Morgan (Why Stop Now? (2012)) as a gay prison cheerleader. But the movie is overlong, and it culminates in a football match that feels as long as a real football match.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 82 mil. $
Box office: 190.3 mil. $
= Minor flop (returned 2.32 times its cost)
[The Longest Yard premiered 19 May (Hollywood, California) and runs 113 minutes. Shooting took place in New Mexico and in California, including Los Angeles in and around July 2004. The film opened #2, behind holdover hit Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, to a 47.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weeks in the top 5 (#2-#4-#5) and grossed 158.1 mil. $ (83.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 8.2 mil. $ (4.3 %) and Australia with 8.1 mil. $ (4.3 %). The film almost certainly turned healthy profits later with home video sales and TV rights deals. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to two notches higher than this one. Segal returned with Get Smart (2008). Adam Sandler (Murder Mystery (2019)) returned with an uncredited cameo in Deuce Bigelow: European Vacation (2005) and starring in Click (2006); Reynolds in The Dukes of Hazzard (2005); Chris Rock (The Week Of (2018)) with a voice performance in Madagascar (2005), in Red Hot Chili Peppers music video Hump de Bump (2006) and physically in a movie in his own I Think I Love My Wife (2007). The Longest Yard is rotten at 31 % with a 4.78/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Longest Yard?