The Nutty Professor (1996)

My Review

“The Nutty Professor” is a comedy film where Eddie Murphy plays a portly scientist who invents a weight-loss drug. After experiencing a bad date, he decides to use the serum on himself with hilarious results. Director Tom Shadyac (“Ace Ventura: Private Detective” 1994) managed to instill this film with consistent plot lines, lots of laughs, and ample opportunities for Murphy to demonstrate his comedic skills. He co-wrote the screenplay with Steve Oedekerk, David Sheffield, and Barry W. Blaustein.

Co-stars include Jada Pinkett, James Coburn, Dave Chappelle, Larry Miller, John Ales, Jamal Mixon, Ned Luke, Montell Jordan, and Hamilton Von Watts as the health inspector. “The Nutty Professor” was a big hit at the box office for Eddie Murphy Productions, Imagine Entertainment, and Universal Pictures. The film won the Academy Award for Best Make-Up.

A sequel starring Murphy was released in 2000 called “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps.” This film, of course, was a remake of the 1963 film of the same name starring Jerry Lewis, which itself was a parody of “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” an 1886 novel by Robert Lewis Stevenson.