Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
When beautiful Carla Purty joins the university faculty, genetic professor Dr. Sherman Klump grows desperate to whittle his 400-pound frame down to size and win her heart. So, with one swig of his experimental fat-reducing serum, Sherman becomes 'Buddy Love', a fast-talking, pumped-up, plumped down Don Juan.
The 1996 Nutty Professor remake is largely carried by Eddie Murphy's impressive multi-role performance, playing multiple family members through elaborate prosthetics and makeup — a genuine technical and comedic feat. The plot is a fairly straightforward Jekyll-and-Hyde comedy retread with predictable beats and a formulaic rom-com resolution. Cinematography is serviceable but unremarkable for the genre. Novelty gets a modest bump for Murphy's unique ability to populate the screen with a whole dysfunctional family single-handedly, which gives the film a distinctive comedic identity despite its recycled premise. The ending is rushed and overly tidy, resolving the moral dilemma too neatly.