The Nutty Professor 2 The Klumps > Reviews > An acquired lack of taste

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Hated it
Story	Very weak
Characters / Performances	Satisfactory
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Weak

Advantages:	Can make up be an advantage?
Disadvantages:	Over the top and weak at the same time

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

Eddie Murphy has always been a pretty individual case, almost singlehandedly creating the motormouth, wisecracking black cool dude, although he needed to lift an awfully large chunk of that muse from the act of Richard Pryor. He has had some pretty wonderful vehicles for his talents, in such movies as Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop, but in recent times he seems to have totally abandoned any pretence to taste, refinement or reserve.

Dr Dolittle 1 and 2 were bad enough, The Nutty Professor was pretty base, but with Nutty Professor II: The Klumps he has plumbed completely new depths, stretching the genre probably as far as it can go and in the process degenerating into a frightful mess - in short he's lost it...

If Rush Hour and Big Momma's House were peculiar examples of the motormouth, scarcely intelligible black humour, then they are literally as nothing next to the bizarre, totally over the top mess that is The Klumps. Murphy probably thinks all this is extremely funny and hugely entertaining, but in reality what he's produced is totally reprehensible garbage, which deals in stereotypes and prejudice and stupidity, and only succeeds in appalling all right thinking individuals. Some of this would be just a little excusable if it was in the slightest bit amusing, but toilet humour, fart jokes and sexual innuendo do not a classic make and while Rik Mayall and Ade Edmundson can probably get away with at least some of this stuff, Murphy just doesn't have enough self control or discipline to do anything other than throw everything into the pot, vainly hoping that at least some of it will stick and tickle the funny bone.

WELL IT DOESN'T, not one icky little bit...

The Klumps is just bizarre trash, with the story of an obese scientist with a despicable alter ego inside him, a loose canvas upon which to paint and endless stream of set pieces and sketches with the sort of cultured punchline which only a pretty dumb individual or children under 12 would find even faintly amusing.

Anyone with an IQ above 1 or 2 will struggle to watch this film all the way through and ten minutes or so is about all any right thinking normal human being can tolerate. It's all about as bearable for us as the French kiss from a septuagenarian is for one of Murphy's characters in the film - he retched pretty uncontrollably, and I feel exactly the same way.

Fattism isn't funny, sexism isn't funny, racism isn't funny and absolutely nothing whatsoever about The Klumps is even the slightest, tiniest bit amusing at all. In fact, it's one of the most unpleasant, unamusing, boring, insulting piece of lavatory humour you are ever likely to come across in all your born days.

You may believe a hamster can fly, or that breaking wind in a spaceship is a good idea, and I know Mrs D thought the whole thing was very funny, but that's part of my case - I did say the IQ had to be above 1 or 2 to count...

The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps was made in 2000, and stars Murphy as Professor Sherman Klumps, and all the other adult family members, in a sort of wise guy Dennis Price for the Twenty First Century mode. The make up is truly wonderful, the story is okay, and Murphy is energetic, but in EVERY OTHER aspect, this film is one enormous piece of absolute dross, although Janet Jackson is sweetly pretty…

This film is totally gross and unappealing – you may find it funny and fail to understand my problem with it – that’s up to you…

DIRECTOR: Peter Segal
WRITERS: Barry W. Blaustein, David Sheffield, Paula Weitz, Chris Weitz
CAST: Eddie Murphy, Janet Jackson, Larry Miller, John Ales
RUNNING TIME: 98 minutes
RATING: PG-13 for gross humor and geriatric sex jokes