The Nutty Professor (1996)

Grossly overweight yet good-hearted professor Sherman Klump takes a special chemical that turns him into the slim but obnoxious Buddy Love.

Director:

Tom Shadyac

Writers:

Jerry Lewis, Bill Richmond

Stars:

Eddie Murphy, Jada Pinkett Smith, James Coburn

Won 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eddie Murphy	...	Sherman Klump / Buddy Love / Lance Perkins / Papa Klump / Mama Klump / Grandma Klump / Ernie Klump
Jada Pinkett Smith	...	Carla Purty (as Jada Pinkett)
James Coburn	...	Harlan Hartley
Larry Miller	...	Dean Richmond
Dave Chappelle	...	Reggie Warrington
John Ales	...	Jason
Patricia Wilson	...	Dean's Secretary
Jamal Mixon	...	Ernie Klump Jr.
Nichole McAuley	...	Fit Woman
Hamilton von Watts	...	Health Instructor (as Hamilton Von Watts)
Chao Li Chi	...	Asian Man (as Chao-Li Chi)
Tony Carlin	...	Host
Quinn Duffy	...	Bartender
Montell Jordan	...	Himself
Doug Williams	...	Band Leader

Storyline

Brilliant and obese scientist Sherman Klump invents a miraculous weight-loss solution. After a date with chemistry student Carla Purty goes badly, a depressed Klump tries the solution on himself. Though he instantly loses 250 pounds, the side effects include a second personality: an obnoxiously self-assertive braggart who calls himself Buddy Love. Buddy proves to be more popular than Sherman, but his arrogance and bad behavior quickly spiral out of control.

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Plot Keywords:

overweight | scientist | teacher | fat insult | split personality | 

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Taglines:

Inside Sherman Klump, a party animal is about to break out.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for crude humor and sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 June 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

El profesor chiflado

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$54,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$25,411,725, 30 June 1996

Gross USA:

$128,814,019

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$273,961,019

Company Credits

Production Co:

Imagine Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby SR DTS-Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Consideration was briefly given to superimposing Eddie Murphy's face on Jamal Mixon's body during the dinner scenes. However, the effects tests were deemed unsatisfactory, and so Mixon became the only actor other than Murphy to play a member of the Klump family in this film or its sequel.

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Goofs

Reggie's hairstyle after taking off his hat in the club "The Scream."

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Quotes

Grandma Klump: [starts coughing heavily]
Papa Klump: Everybody better cover your plate.
Mama Klump: Here, momma, have some water.
Grandma Klump: Whatcha talking' about cover your plate? Not tonight, Cletus. I'll kick your ass.

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Crazy Credits

During the credits, outtakes are shown.

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Alternate Versions

When Sherman Klump opens the drawer in his desk and reveals the secret compartment containing all the candy, there is a row of 'Snickers' bars on the top. In some T.V. versions, at least in the UK, the word 'Snickers' is digitally altered to 'Chocky'.

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Connections

Featured in Thomas Sanders & Friends: Joystick Joyride: Kingdom Hearts 3 Ep. 1: Thomas Sanders Shows His Dork Side (2019)

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Soundtracks

Sexyenamutha-Forget It
Written by Danielle LoPresti, Worthy Davis, and André Berry
Performed by Danielle LoPresti

User Reviews

Commenting on the comment "fatism" below

As a fat person myself, I encounter prejudice every day. Movies are especially bad, because it is still considered okay to make fun of fat people. Most skinny people just assume that we're lazy. They think that we have the potential to be as thin as is considered "normal," but we just are too lazy to do anything about it. That is absolutely false (not that the skinnies would ever buy that, but I can at least try).

Anyway, to get to The Nutty Professor, I found it to be one of the most sympathetic portrayals of fat people ever put on film. The only one that tops it is James Mangold's Heavy, although the protagonist's weight wasn't all that was harming his well-being.

The Nutty Professor did have some physical comedy involving fat that one could take as funny, but I never felt that the jokes were degrading. The main reason that I feel this was so sympathetic was that, though he experienced life as a skinny stud, he did decide to be a fat man at the end. One can chock this up to formulae, but something that Sherrman Klump said at the end really touched me: "I could try to lose weight, but I'm always going to be a fat man, and you're just going to have to live with that." I think that a film where the screenwriters who were bigoted would have said something like, "I'll lose weight without this stupid formula." That's not what happened, though, and I'm glad for that.