The Nutty Professor (1996)

66% of critics liked it
(53 reviews)
50% of users liked it
(539,791 ratings)

Eddie Murphy gives one of Jerry Lewis' best-remembered vehicles a 1990s overhaul in this hit comedy. Sherman Klump (Murphy) is a college professor and respected biochemistry researcher who is kind, considerate, and a genuinely nice guy. Sherman is also appallingly overweight; coupled with the fact… More Eddie Murphy gives one of Jerry Lewis' best-remembered vehicles a 1990s overhaul in this hit comedy. Sherman Klump (Murphy) is a college professor and respected biochemistry researcher who is kind, considerate, and a genuinely nice guy. Sherman is also appallingly overweight; coupled with the fact that he's painfully shy and a bit clumsy, his romantic prospects are rather bleak. When Sherman finds himself working with a pretty graduate student, Carla Purty (Jada Pinkett), he falls in love and is eager to impress her, but at an upscale nightclub, his weight attracts the attention of an insult comic (Dave Chappelle) and his bumbling spoils the evening. Sherman's latest project is a genetic weight loss formula, and despondent over his failure to win Carla's heart, he subjects himself to a massive dose. Suddenly, Sherman is transformed into the slim, trim, and handsome Buddy Love; however, the drug also boosts his testosterone level, turning the likable Sherman into the arrogant, skirt-chasing Buddy. In addition to playing Sherman and Buddy, Eddie Murphy also plays four other members of the porcine Klump family, as well as eccentric exercise guru Lance Perkins. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Tom Shadyac
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: Jun 28, 1996 Wide
On DVD: Jan 20, 1998
Studio: Universal Pictures

Critic Reviews

Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine
[Murphy] is able to invest his Professor Klump with an endearing dignity, give his lounge lizard alter ego, Buddy Love, an alligator's bite and then go on from there to play Klump's grandma. Also his mother, father and brother.
Variety Staff, Variety
Murphy's most assured work in some time.
Kevin McManus, Washington Post
This is good, seamless comedy.
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
This is a chance to see Murphy doing what he does best, and for that alone it's worth seeing.
, Globe and Mail
The flick is sketch comedy spun out to feature length.
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Eddie Murphy is funny again. Sadly, he lacks the guts to follow through on the cathartic self-satire that gives the film its distinction.
Michael Scheinfeld, Common Sense Media
A dumb, offensive movie--a good one to skip.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Murphy turns the dual roles of a meek academician and his smarmy alter ego, Buddy Love, into an excoriating exercise in self-disclosure.
, Film4
All in all, a pretty thin comedy.
Chris Cabin, Filmcritic.com
the beginning of the end for Eddie Murphy
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)
Murphy finally revives his considerable comedic gifts for this crowd-pleaser.
Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews
Welcome back (I hope), Eddie Murphy.
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
The comic maelstrom known as Eddie Murphy is finally back.
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan
Funny, vulgar Eddie Murphy--his best to date.

Read all 14 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Michael M

This remake of The Nutty Professor is absolutely hilarious. I think its Murphy's best film and the one he gave his absolute best on. He enthusisatically plays the entire family, having to sit through 6 hours of make-up a day which would depress and annoy most comedy actors today… More
This remake of The Nutty Professor is absolutely hilarious. I think its Murphy's best film and the one he gave his absolute best on. He enthusisatically plays the entire family, having to sit through 6 hours of make-up a day which would depress and annoy most comedy actors today who care more about the money they make then the performance they give. Murphy doesn't resort to this therefore i'm proud to say his performance in the film was solid. The movie itself as I said hilarious!
Eric A

At the time of release, I found this movie to be very funny because it created the modern day genre of one actor playing multiple roles. Eddie Murphy killed as every role and set the stage for other films like it such as the Tyler Perry films, etc.
Jeff "

The Nutty Professor is along with Bowfinger, one of Eddie Murphy's last funny comedies. The idea is good, and I enjoyed the comedic elements of the film. Of all the films that Eddie Murphy has starred in, The Nutty Professor is one of his funniest. Sure the film isn't… More
The Nutty Professor is along with Bowfinger, one of Eddie Murphy's last funny comedies. The idea is good, and I enjoyed the comedic elements of the film. Of all the films that Eddie Murphy has starred in, The Nutty Professor is one of his funniest. Sure the film isn't perfect, but there are plenty of good laughs here to entertain the audience. I'm not the biggest Eddie Murphy fan, but I enjoyed this film, and I thought it had some great moments where the film was very well done. The Nutty Professor is a good comedy, and somewhat underrated. However, if you enjoy Eddie Murphy, give this one a shot, The Nutty Professor is one of his last funny roles, and he really does bring on good laughs with his antics in this film. The Nutty Professor has a good cast starring opposite Murphy, and the film boasts another comedic talent, Dave Chappelle. The film works well enough to be an entertaining hour and a half and despite the fact that it's not a comedic masterpiece, the film still has plenty of laughs going for it, and is much better than the second. This is one of Eddie Murphy's last good film roles along with Bowfinger afterwards he really started to make unfunny films that just insulted the intelligence and were a waste of time. Luckily looking back at this film, you realize that Eddie Murphy was once very funny and capable at delivering something unique on-screen. Now, he's totally irrelevant and unfunny. The Nutty Professor may not be the best comedy, but it definitely is worth watching and is pretty funny for what it is.
Alexander D

Starring Eddie Murphy (yeah, he's in his fat suit again), THE NUTTY PROFESSOR is elatedly dumb--as in really dumb. We'd all like to think that Eddie Murphy is a funny guy. Truly he is, and if you've ever seen his stand-up comedy,… More
Starring Eddie Murphy (yeah, he's in his fat suit again), THE NUTTY PROFESSOR is elatedly dumb--as in really dumb. We'd all like to think that Eddie Murphy is a funny guy. Truly he is, and if you've ever seen his stand-up comedy, it's great; the man just has trouble constructing a good movie. There's two signs of "ehhh" in this one: a) Eddie Murphy is in a fat suit, which I already mentioned; b) at least ten characters are portrayed by Eddie Murphy. The latter means that either no one wanted to make a film this ridiculous, or Murphy just had a lot of time on his hands. If you want the bottom line: I can't remember laughing. I might have laughed five or six times, but that's it. Mr. Murphy, I think it's time you put your fat suit away. It's becoming offensive and cliched.
Brad W

Really Stupid
Conner R

I think this was actually pretty funny on a guilty pleasure sort of level, it's like a crazy diet pill gone wrong. Eddie Murphy depicts a very stereotypical version of fat and skinny people, but it's really funny to watch at times. The family scenes were funny mainly due to… More
I think this was actually pretty funny on a guilty pleasure sort of level, it's like a crazy diet pill gone wrong. Eddie Murphy depicts a very stereotypical version of fat and skinny people, but it's really funny to watch at times. The family scenes were funny mainly due to the fact that it's so weird seeing him as 5 different people. The overall message is kind've sad and unrealistic, especially by today's standards.
Dean M

This remake of the 1963 Jerry Lewis comedy with Eddie Murphy is really hilarious! Murphy as a shy, overweight professor Sherman Klump's chemical concoction proves to be anything but stable, bringing plenty of laughs to this surprisingly heartwarming tale.
KJ P

This movie was hilarious! One of eddie murphy's best! Great work!
Anthony L

oh look, its Eddie Murphy in a fat suit! Why doesn?t he just become fat and have done with it, it would save him a lot of time!
Leigh R

Nutty? You can say that again.
Jason O

haven't seen an Eddie Murphy movie yet that wasn't hilarious and The Nutty Professor is one of the best he's ever made. He plays the role of an overweight and intelligent professor that likes a gorgeous new teacher, but he doesn't have the courage to ask her out… More
haven't seen an Eddie Murphy movie yet that wasn't hilarious and The Nutty Professor is one of the best he's ever made. He plays the role of an overweight and intelligent professor that likes a gorgeous new teacher, but he doesn't have the courage to ask her out because of his size. He develops a formula that turns him into a skinnier, arrogant man that seems to have a better chance with the teacher that Mr. Klump (the overweight professor)likes. She turns out to like the skinnier, more arrogant version of Eddie Murphy but thinks he's too out of control. Later on, Eddie Murphy gets stuck in the new body and wants to go back to being Mr. Klump, but the new arrogant version tried to keep him from becoming Mr. Klump again. The professor creates a formula that can drastically make anyone lose weight within seconds and can't wait to prove it to everyone. However, even this is a challenge when the new, skinnier Eddie Murphy tries to take over and do away with Mr. Klump. The Nutty Professor is one of the funniest movies ever made in my opinion. Some of the sequences might not be as good as the others, but I don't know anybody in my family or any of my friends that didn't like the movie. It's one of Eddie Murphy's best and if you feel like laughing, you need to get this movie. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2000. I've seen a few Eddie Murphy movies that aren't hilarious now! This is still a highlight of his career for me though, love it.
Tim S

Hilarious, although the sequel was a bit deeper.
Lady D

This really is Eddie Murphy doing what Eddie Murphy does best. A funny family film with a great underlying message that children really seem to pick up. Never really fancied the follow up dvd 'The Klumps' but I had forgotten how funny this film was.
Tim S

Eddie Murphy is nuts.
Dean !

I really like this comedy. Eddie Murphy is on top form again and it even carries a heart warming message as well.
Dan S

Funny.
Candy R

funny. eddie does like to dress up.
Lafe F

Great fun with a Nutty Professor and his rude family "The Klumps", all played by Eddie Murphy. Their dinner table dynamics were far more interesting than the Professor's actual experiments, but I loved his heckling of the stand-up comedian at the night club. The… More
Great fun with a Nutty Professor and his rude family "The Klumps", all played by Eddie Murphy. Their dinner table dynamics were far more interesting than the Professor's actual experiments, but I loved his heckling of the stand-up comedian at the night club. The effect-filled ending was enormous. They tried to impart a message of "be yourself". Good effort, Eddie!
Rachel F

Just damn funny...and slightly crazy.
Tim B

Annoying.