THE NUTTY PROFESSOR
US, 1996, 96 minutes, Colour.
Eddie Murphy, Jada Pinkett, James Coburn, Dave Chappelle.
Directed by Tom Shadyac.
The Nutty Professor has a lot of laughs but it is not in the genre of elegant comedy. Over 30 years before Jerry Lewis made the original a star vehicle for himself and a means to be taken seriously as a comedian. He used his gawky screen persona but, by using the story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, he updated the change so that a suave Jerry Lewis emerged - with the ominous name of Buddy Love.
Now Eddie Murphy has taken over. But, instead of having a `nerdish' professor, we have a very fat professor as the Dr Jekyll equivalent. Mr Hyde becomes Buddy Love again, but he is not suave, he is a completely egotistical variation on Eddie Murphy as we know him from his movies! Who is the real Eddie Murphy?
This Nutty Professor is especially geared, as are so many of Eddie Murphy's movies, to a Black American sensibility. And this kind of comedy does not travel so well (as in the family dinner scenes where Murphy plays the part of four other members of his family, including grandma). Audiences who don't find bodily function humour funny should also be warned.
But, the sympathetic way in which Murphy (and his complex makeup) portrays the professor, who is so self-conscious and awkward and whose subconscious surfaces in Buddy Love, creates a humane character and shows Murphy's skills in character acting. He is extraordinarily versatile.
1. The popularity of the Jerry Lewis film in the '60s? Its cult status? Eddie Murphy and his status in the '90s?
2. The universal appeal of this kind of American comedy? Black African American comedy? For US audiences?
3. The importance of the special effects, especially for Sherman? And his transformations? The enjoyment of the special effects in a comedy situation? The university locations, city locations and LA? Musical score and songs?
4. The adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde story? The archetypal value of the split personality? The shadow emerging and the conflict between the two aspects of personality?
5. The decision to make the contrast between fat and thin people? The importance of the fatness theme, the message that it was all right to be oneself? The glamour of the thin culture? Television and advertising? The parody of the aerobics programs? Sherman going to the aerobics classes, trying to sit in the seat in the dean's office etc? The victimisation of fat people in contemporary society? The stand-up comedy and its victimising the fat?
6. Eddie Murphy and his versatility? The variety of roles? The pathos with Sherman? The extroverted vanity of Buddy Love (and the reality of Eddie Murphy's screen persona in the '80s and '90s?)? Portraying the various members of the family? The parody of the aerobics instructor on television?
7. The opening, the animals getting loose, the sex jokes? Sherman and his awkwardness? His assistant and his loyalty? The accident in the lab? Dean Richmond and his vindictive attitude towards Sherman?
8. Eddie Murphy's character portrayal of Sherman? Appearance, size, age, isolation and loneliness? His genius, the laboratory, his work with Shelley and her weight? His work, skills, staff? The dean and his threats? The interview with the dean - the joke about the chair, the animal droppings and the coffee ...? His class and his rubbing out his writing with his belly? Carla and the encounter in the classroom, his response to her? At home, lonely, surfing the TV channels, imagining Carla - and the beach scene from From Here to Eternity? His nightmare and his being like King Kong and his crushing the city? His being poked fun at by everyone? His advising Carla?
9. His motivation, the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde story? His decision to undergo the change himself? Buddy Love emerging, thin, vain, Spandex and the shopping? Coming on to Carla? The two scenes with the stand-up comic? The humiliation of everybody laughing at the fat jokes? Buddy Love turning the tables and humiliating the comic for his appearance? The changes overtaking Buddy Love and Sherman trying to emerge? The change, the crash in the car? The dean and the build-up to the interview with Hartley? The discussions, the promise? The demonstration and the intent? Buddy Love and his party, the three girls - and Carla and her arriving and finding Sherman, her reaction? The confusion of the ending, the struggle with Buddy Love and Sherman, each trying to control the other? The banquet, the mishaps, Hartley and the dean? His persuading Hartley that the enterprise was worthwhile? The final conquering of Buddy Love and the emerging of Sherman?
10. The theme of the dark side of personality, the shadow? Sherman and his receiving impressions of what people wanted him to be like? The testosterone vain shadow? The condemnation of Buddy Love?
11. The family sequences, the variety of characters, the eating jokes, bodily function jokes? Grandma, the men, the mother, the fat boy, Sherman in this context? The visit with Carla - and her adapting to the folksiness and the vulgarity of the family? The presence of Sherman's mother and father at the final demonstration?
12. The character of Carla, attractive, the teacher, her indebtedness to Sherman, attracted? Going out with him, the humiliation of the stand-up comic? The attraction to Buddy Love, asking Sherman for his advice, going out with Buddy, his performance and her reaction? The visit to the family? The ending and her wanting Sherman to be himself?
13. The portrayal of the dean, self-importance, after the money, his skills in being agreeable to everyone? Hartley and his money, the interactions with the dean, the final decision?
14. University life, the staff, the students? The loyalty of Sherman's assistant and helping him in the crisis?
15. Stand-up comedy, African- American stand-up comedy - the performance, the humiliation of Sherman? The humiliation of the comic?
16. The combination of farcical and slapstick comedy and special effects with black African-American? humour and the archetypal Robert Louis Stevenson story?
