THE NUTTY PROFESSOR

"THE NUTTY PROFESSOR"
(1996) (Eddie Murphy, Jada Pinkett) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Mild	*Minor	Moderate	Minor	Minor

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	None	Mild	None	Moderate

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	Minor	None	Mild	Mild

QUICK TAKE:: An overweight professor develops a serum that makes him thin but has bad side effects.

PLOT:: Professor Sherman Klump (EDDIE MURPHY) is a brilliant professor researching ways to reprogram a person's DNA to make them lose weight. After a night on the town with another instructor, Carla Purty (JADA PINKETT) where a comedian makes fun of his size, Klump decides to test his DNA altering serum on himself. He immediately changes into a trim man and refers to himself as "Buddy Love." The problem with the serum is that it raises his testosterone levels to incredible heights and it isn't stable. Thus, Klump alternates between his fat self and the macho, egotistical and skinny Love. From then on, he must contend with Dean Richmond who wants the college to get a grant for the serum, his alter ego, and the three-way relationship between himself, Love and Carla.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Yes. The commercials show the funny scenes which will make kids want to see it. Also, if they've seen Eddie's earlier, funnier work, they'll want to see this one.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For crude humor and sexual references.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: EDDIE MURPHY plays two characters (actually many more, but the others are all secondary). Klump is a loveable, honest and hard working man who's trying to do good with his research. His alter ego, Buddy Love, is a self centered, egotistical man created from too much testosterone. This is explained in the movie, so it's forgivable, but kids should recognize that Klump is a better role model than Love.
JADA PINKETT plays a character who's relegated to be the romance object, but in that limited bit, she's a good role model as she looks beyond the outward appearance (of both Klump and Love) and instead focuses on what's on the inside of a person. In that regard, she's a good role model.; JADA PINKETT plays a character who's relegated to be the romance object, but in that limited bit, she's a good role model as she looks beyond the outward appearance (of both Klump and Love) and instead focuses on what's on the inside of a person. In that regard, she's a good role model.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: People are seen drinking at a nightclub.
Love and Carla drink wine with dinner.
Love holds a big party at his place where there's a lot of drinking and the next morning the place is littered with empty bottles and cans.
People are seen drinking at an alumni ball.

BLOOD/ GORE: Hamster droppings fall into Richmond's coffee and he ends up drinking them down.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Students and Dean Richmond make fun of Klump's fatness.
There are two sequences where a comedian makes fun of Klump's fatness (such as "He's got more crack than Harlem."). But in the second one, Buddy retaliates with his own fat jokes and they fire off "Your mother is so fat..." jokes back and forth at each other.
It's stated that Love charged a $47,000 car on faculty credit without permission.
Several times black characters refer to other black characters as "niggers," and women are referred to as "bitches."

FRIGHTENING/TENSE SCENES: Klump has a daydream where he's on a gurney in an ER and having chest pains. Suddenly he starts getting bigger and bigger and everyone runs from the room in terror. It's played for laughs, but little kids might find it confusing and/or scary.
There is a scene with some dramatic music and a thunderstorm raging outside where Klump takes the serum for the first time. He falls to the ground with convulsions and knocks over some equipment that starts sparking and exploding. Some kids might find this scene a little scary.
There is a sequence where Klump and Love alternate in the same body. The strange contortions (and great special effects) might scare some younger kids who might not understand what exactly is going on.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Dean Richmond says "...maybe the NRA people are right. If I had one of those....bang!" (Said in reference to a hord of escaping hamsters).
Klump's grandfather, upon hearing that someone is out to kill his grandson (referring to Love), states that he's glad he brought his knife, but it's never seen.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: There is an abundance of farting and belching used as comedy. There are two dinner scenes with Klump's family where the grandfather and a kid fart quite often. There is another daydream sequence where Klump imagines he's gotten so fat and so big that he towers over the city like a giant. He then bends over and farts and the wind from him blows everyone over.
There is a lot of fun made at the expense of fat people including some from Klump himself. However, the long sequence of "Your mother's so fat" jokes and other references might give kids the impression that it's okay to do the same (especially since the jokes make people in the movie and the audience laugh).
There are a couple of scenes where Love thrusts his hips back and forth.
Phrases: "Bitch," "Piss," "Nigger," and "Shut up."

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): There's just some minor tense music in a few scenes, but nothing scary.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: 11 "s" words, 33 "ass" words, 9 damns, 9 slang terms for breasts (the "t" word), 8 hells, 5 slang terms for penis (the "d" word), and 7 uses of "God" or "Oh my God," and one of "God damn" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: A hamster runs up a student's pants leg and is then see thrashing around near the guy's crotch. The girl he is with stares admiringly at this action (it's a penis joke).
A hamster tears its way through a poster advertising underwear and the hamster is seen coming out of the guy's butt.
Klump's grandmother says that Mike Douglass (the TV talk show host from way back) "...used to make me moist."
A comedian, making fun of Klump's size and seeing him with Carla asks, "Who's sucking whose t*tties?"
Love looks down into his pants and exclaims "I can see my d*ck" several times (referring to having lost so much weight).
In an aerobics class, Love exclaims "I don't have any t*tties" several times (referring to having lost so much weight).
In an aerobics class, there is some normal pelvic thrusting and butt swaying that Love exaggerates quite a bit.
A comedian states that a white guy in the crowd has a little penis.
Love states that the comedian's mother had an affair with Mr. Ed and then displays some pelvic thrusting.
Love tells the comedian, "Your mother's so fat that after sex I roll over twice and I'm still on top of the bitch."
Klump's grandmother states that (the grandfather) "...was on top of me, pumping and sweating."
Klump's grandmother refers to sex as "relations" and states that there's nothing wrong with that. She tells of her earlier years where she had "relations" every night with men, and that now when she's alone, she "relates" to her self. She then tells Carla that Klump's never had "relations" and that he'll be able to wear a white tux when he's married. But she states that she's not sure about Carla.
Klump's grandmother then talks about lesbians and states that there's nothing wrong with "a little cunnilingus."
There are several references to Buddy Love being horny since his alter ego, Klump, is still a virgin.
Love tells Carla that he bets she's wearing a thong made of liquorice.
One of a group of three women states that Love told her he could do all three of them, and Love later asks Carla if she wants to join all of them. She declines and smacks him. Love looks at the three women and states "...now I've got six t*tties."
The morning after a party where Love was the big party man, Klump wakes up to find himself in bed with three women (implying that they and Love had group sex).
A videotape has a quick shot of two scantily clad women passing in front of the camera.
Love grabs an older woman at a dance and asks, "Is that a test tube in my pocket or am I just happy to see you?"

SMOKING: People are seen smoking at a nightclub.
A bum on the streets is seen lighting a cigarette.
People are seen smoking at an alumni ball.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Making fun of fat people.
Taking the easy (and quick) way out of problems. In this case, trying to quickly lose weight.

VIOLENCE: In a daydream sequence, a giant Klump walks through the city streets, bends over and farts. A man then flicks his lighter that ignites the gas and an A-bomb explosion rips through the city.
A comedian (fed up with being out done by Love) goes into a karate pose and goes after Love who grabs his foot and flips him over onto his back. Love then grabs him and smashes his head into a piano. Moments later, he crushes the guy's fingers to make him yell and then ends up throwing the comedian inside the grand piano.
Dean Richmond states that he's going to kill Klump by strangling him (and that he's not joking about it) if Klump blows a pitch to get funding for his science research. Love later repeats the threat back at Richmond.
Carla smacks Buddy after she hears other women talking about him.
Love slugs a research student, telling him that he's got "...a date with the linoleum."
The research student tells a crowd that the man in front of them (Love) is trying to kill Professor Klump. The grandfather states that he's glad he brought his knife and starts to reach for it (but it's never seen).
Love slugs the research student again (as he tries to stop Love from taking more serum).
The research student punches Love to stop him from taking the serum.
There is a sequence where Klump and Love alternate having control of parts of the same body and he/they end up hitting "themselves" in the face.

Reviewed June 29, 1996

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