Nutty Professor II: The Klumps

Nutty Professor II: The Klumps is a 2000 American science-fiction romantic-comedy film directed by Peter Segal.[2] It is a sequel to the 1996 film The Nutty Professor.

Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPeter Segal
Produced byBrian Grazer
Screenplay byBarry W. Blaustein
David Sheffield
Paul Weitz
Chris Weitz
Story byBarry W. Blaustein
David Sheffield
Steve Oedekerk
Based onCharacters
by Jerry Lewis
Bill Richmond
Starring
Music byDavid Newman
CinematographyDean Semler
Edited byWilliam Kerr
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • July 28, 2000 (2000-07-28)
Running time
107 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$84 million
Box office$166.3 million

In contrast to the previous film, subplots which are centered on his parents (with his brother and grandmother providing comic relief) occupy a substantial part of the film. Like the first film, the sequel's theme song is "Macho Man" by The Village People, which this time is played during the end credits.

Plot

Sherman Klump has created a new youth formula which enables those who take it to de-age. He has also fallen in love with a colleague, Denise Gaines, who has developed a method to isolate genetic material. Despite his good fortune, Sherman has a major problem: the personality of his alter ego Buddy Love is still ingrained inside him and has begun to periodically take control of his body. Sherman tries proposing to Denise, but Buddy takes over and humiliates him, mortifying Denise.

Determined to be rid of Buddy permanently, and despite his assistant Jason warning him of potentially consequences for his health, Sherman uses Denise's methodology to isolate and remove a gene in his DNA where Buddy has manifested. However, the genetic material containing Buddy grows into a sentient being when a hair from a Basset Hound accidentally lands in it. Sherman apologizes to Denise and the two become engaged. Later, Dean Richmond informs the two that a pharmaceutical firm has offered Wellman College $150 million for the youth formula.

Sherman and Denise then encounter the newly reformed Buddy at a movie theater. Buddy pickpockets Sherman and learns of the $150 million offer. He subsequently visits the pharmaceutical company and makes a rival bid for the youth formula. Sherman learns that due to the extraction, his body chemistry has been altered and that he is losing his intelligence. Realizing he needs to keep the youth formula out of Buddy's hands, Sherman stashes it at his parents' house.

Sherman's father Cletus, who is sexually frustrated due to his age and impotence, drinks some of the youth formula. He goes out for a night on the town and attempts to seduce his wife, but she is horrified. Buddy love witnesses Cletus changing and realizes that the youth formula is being stored in the Klump household. Meanwhile, Sherman's condition causes him to act like a fool in front of Denise's parents, concerning her.

Buddy steals some of the youth formula from the Klump household, and fills the vial the rest of the way with fertilizer. This sabotage causes chaos at a demonstration the next day, as a hamster Sherman uses to demonstrate the formula instead mutates into a giant monster who violates Dean Richmond. The humiliated and enraged Dean fires Sherman. Sherman learns that his brain's deterioration has worsened from Jason, and he decides to break up with Denise. Cletus reconciles with his wife and consoles a depressed Sherman.

Sherman quickly works on a newer, much more potent formula while his mental faculties allow him to. Richmond confronts him about Buddy's actions, believing the two are working together. Sherman leaves with Richmond and a tennis ball covered in the youth formula and head to a presentation Buddy is giving about the youth formula. Meanwhile, a worried Denise discovers what has happened and that Sherman's brain damage is still progressing. Enlisting the help of Cletus, Denise goes after him. Sherman takes advantage of the canine DNA that crossed with Buddy's, and uses the tennis ball to distract him. Buddy catches the ball in his mouth, and the youth formula transforms Buddy back into a glowing mass of sentient genetic material.

Sherman chases the genetic material, intent on drinking it to correct his condition. However, the material evaporates on the edge of a fountain before he can consume it. Denise and Cletus arrive too late to save him, and Denise breaks into tears, which hit the genetic material and fall into the fountain. As they go to leave, Sherman takes a look at a fountain and remarks that it is "pretty". Seeing that the water is glowing, Denise realizes that the genetic material has reconstituted thanks to her tears and has fallen into the fountain, and that if Sherman drinks the fountain water before it dissipates, he will be restored to normal. Sherman drinks the water, and is able to get his genetic makeup back in proper order, restoring his intelligence.

Denise and Sherman's later get married, while Richmond entertains the idea of loving the hamster, who has returned to normal.

Cast

Release

Box office

The film grossed over $42.5 million in its opening weekend and went on to a total gross of over $123.3 million. It earned an additional $43 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $166.3 million worldwide.[3]

Critical reception

Unlike the first film, Nutty Professor II received mixed reviews from critics. Adjectives such as "obnoxious", "lowbrow", "bloated", and "unfunny" cropped up frequently in reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 26% based on reviews from 88 critics. The site's consensus states that "While Eddie Murphy is still hilarious as the entire Klump family, the movie falls apart because of uneven pacing, a poor script, and skits that rely on being gross rather than funny."[4] On Metacritic the film has a score of 38 out of 100, based on reviews from 34 critics.[5] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade C+ on scale of A to F.[6]

Salon.com's reviewer gave the movie one of its few positive notices, and offered the praise "cheerfully vulgar".[7] The New Yorker's Anthony Lane was particularly severe; in addition to hating the film, he dismissed Murphy's playing of multiple characters as "minstrelling", and charged the actor with "at once feeding us what we like and despising us for swallowing it."[8] Most critics, gave a generally negative assessment of the movie with at least a nod towards Murphy's versatility and comic talent.

Roger Ebert gave the film three stars, noting that while it was "raucous" and "scatological," the film overall proved to be "very funny" and "never less than amazing."[9] Variety's Joe Leydon wrote: "Be prepared to laugh less at a lot more of the same thing in this overbearing but underwhelming sequel."[10]

Soundtrack
Main article: Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (soundtrack)

References
  1. "NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS (12)". British Board of Film Classification. July 27, 2000. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  2. "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  3. "The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  4. "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)". Rotten Tomatoes.
  5. "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps". Metacritic.
  6. "Cinemascore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  7. Andrew O'Hehir (July 28, 2000). ""Nutty Professor II: The Klumps"". Salon.com.
  8. Lane, Anthony. The New Yorker, August 7, 2000. The Fat of the Land (subscription required)
  9. Roger Ebert (July 28, 2000). "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps Movie Review (2000)". Chicago Sun-Times.
  10. Leydon, Joe (July 27, 2000). "The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps". Variety.
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