The Nutty Professor (1996 film)

At Wellman College, thousands of hamsters overrun the campus after being accidentally released by Sherman Klump, a morbidly obese, kind-hearted professor. Meanwhile, Sherman has created an experimental formula that reconstructs the DNA of an obese person in a way that allows them to lose weight more easily.

After his lecture, Sherman meets and instantly falls in love with Carla Purty, a chemistry graduate who is a big fan of his work. After dinner with his impolite family, Sherman asks Carla out on a date, which she accepts, much to Sherman's surprise. The date begins well with Carla showing admiration for Sherman's work, but the club's obnoxious guest comedian, Reggie Warrington, publicly mocks him about his weight. Sherman becomes depressed and, after having a nightmare in which he becomes a rampaging hungry giant that destroys the city, he tests his serum on himself, losing 250 pounds within seconds. Overwhelmed by his immediate weight loss, he goes out and buys copious amounts of normal-sized clothing to celebrate, and a $47,000 Dodge Viper RT/10 sports car on his faculty expense account. However, Sherman discovers that the effects of the serum are only temporary.

Sherman adopts a false identity, "Buddy Love", and invites Carla out on a date at the same club again. Reggie is present again, and Sherman takes revenge by heckling him mercilessly. Sherman's "Buddy" persona starts to develop an independent personality due to the heightened testosterone levels of the transformation, gradually changing from his regular good-natured self to perverted and super-confident. Klump's lab assistant and good friend Jason spots him fleeing the scene when the serum starts to wear off. Jason notices that he left a credit card with the Klump name on it at the bar, and stalks him to his car believing him to be a thief - ultimately witnessing Sherman’s transformation back to his regular self.

The next morning, Dean Richmond has set up a meeting with Sherman and wealthy businessman Harlan Hartley at The Ritz to explain the serum in the hopes of gaining Hartley's $10,000,000 donation to the science department. Sherman arrives at The Ritz posing as Buddy with Carla. When Richmond spots him, Carla asks Buddy if he will take Sherman's place; he does, taking all the credit of Sherman's work. Hartley and Richmond are very impressed, and Richmond invites him to the Alumni Ball the next night. Meanwhile, Buddy picks up three beautiful women, much to Carla's anger and disgust, who dumps him and walks out. He invites the women and many other people back to his place for the night to throw a party and sleeps with the three women.

Richmond not only fires Sherman, but gleefully tells him that Buddy will be taking his place at the Alumni Ball. Sherman sees a taunting videotape from his alter ego and decides he has had enough of Buddy, making the decision to destroy all of the serum samples, which he does with Jason's help. Sherman plans to set things right with Carla and get the grant from Hartley. Unfortunately, Buddy planned for this by hiding a sample of the serum in one of Sherman's diet shake cans, which Sherman drinks, causing him to transform into Buddy again. Jason tries to stop him from going to the ball, but Buddy knocks him out with a single punch to the face and departs.

At the ball, Buddy demonstrates the effects of the serum to the audience, but Jason arrives in time and confronts Buddy, as he has found out that Buddy's testosterone levels are at a lethally high 60,000%. Buddy plans to drink a large sum of the potion to get rid of Sherman for good; Jason knows that if he drinks it, it will kill Sherman and possibly Buddy. The two of them get into a brief fistfight, but Sherman begins to fight Buddy from within. Sherman eventually transforms into his regular self and admits his misdeeds to the shocked audience, including his parents and Carla; he says that Buddy was who he thought he and everybody else wanted him to be, and that he should accept himself for who he is. As he leaves, Carla stops him and asks why he lied; he says he did not believe that she would accept him. While they don't initiate a romantic relationship, Sherman and Carla remain friends and share a dance together. Richmond rehires Sherman and Hartley gives the donation to Sherman because he is "a brilliant scientist and a gentleman."

• Eddie Murphy as Professor Sherman Klump / Buddy Love
  • Murphy also plays Papa Cletus Klump (Sherman's father), Mama Anna Klump (Sherman's mother), Grandma Ida Mae Jenson (Sherman's grandmother, Anna's mother), Ernie Klump Sr. (Sherman's brother) and Lance Perkins, a parody of Richard Simmons[4]
• Jada Pinkett as Carla Purty
• James Coburn as Harlan Hartley
• Larry Miller as Dean Richmond
• Dave Chappelle as Reggie Warrington
  • Chappelle reprised his role on Chris Rock's 1997 album Roll with the New.
• John Ales as Jason
• Jamal Mixon as Ernie Klump Jr., Sherman's nephew
• Montell Jordan as himself
• Ned Luke as a construction worker

Producer Brian Grazer pursued the idea of remaking The Nutty Professor with a black lead after it was suggested to him by music producer Russell Simmons. Murphy and Grazer had hoped John Landis would direct, having previously worked successfully with Murphy.[4] Ultimately Tom Shadyac director of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective joined the project. The Nutty Professor was the first Tom Shadyac film to feature outtakes over the closing credits. Murphy, Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield worked together on the screenplay. The film is not a strict remake of the Jerry Lewis film, Murphy said, "and we stripped down the story to its bare bones and built it up to this whole different thing" adding elements from the story of Jekyll and Hyde as well as Cyrano de Bergerac. [4]

The film has a series of scenes with Murphy and comedian Dave Chappelle who plays insult comic, Reggie Warrington. Much of their dialogue was improvised. Murphy was one of Chappelle's biggest comedic influences.[5] Reggie Warrington is named after Reginald and Warrington Hudlin, brothers, and directors of one of Murphy's previous films, Boomerang.[6] Reginald Hudlin was stunned to see the obnoxious character was named after himself and his brother, and to see the character violently stuffed into a piano.[7]

The film was made with the help of Jerry Lewis, he was an executive producer for both this film and the 2000 sequel The Klumps. In 2009 he expressed his regrets for allowing the remakes saying, "I have such respect for Eddie, but I should not have done it. What I did was perfect the first time around and all you're going to do is diminish that perfection by letting someone else do it."[8][6][9]

Rick Baker created the fat suits for Murphy, they were made from eurothane foam and spandex suit, and filled with pockets of liquid to make it jiggle believably. It took three hours to apply the makeup each day.[10] Baker praised Murphy saying "He really makes the stuff come to life, and he never complains. When we did 'The Nutty Professor' [...], he spent 80-odd days in the makeup chair. As much as I love makeup, even I would have been complaining by the end, but Eddie didn't."[11]

A sequel, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps was released on July 28, 2000.

• Eddie Murphy filmography
• Dr. Dolittle
• The Nutty Professor (film series)

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