Review of The Nutty Professor (1996) by Rachel H — 30 Oct 2010

In terms of remakes, this is one of the greatest ones ever made. I haven't seen the Jerry Lewis original, but watching the Eddie Murphy version really makes me want to. Backed by great performances by Eddie Murphy (in all of his roles, especially Grandma Klump) Larry Miller, and Jada Pinkett Smith, this is possibly the best remake of all time.

I know of the big changes they made to the remake, like oh say a few hundred more pounds of difference. I must say (what I can say without having watched the original) that the changes really did work. I loved the addition of the family, and who can forget "hercules, hercules". Although, at times, the family can be a bit distracting from the story, this is a little bit more prevalent in the second movie, which I will review shortly after this.

Jada Pinkett Smith proved herself to be a very good love interest who actually had dimensions and character traits and whatnot. Even though she can't stand Buddy Love, she finds herself oddly attracted to him. We don't know if it's because he's just so damn cool or if she sees a tad of the professor in him. I love that we have that element of mystery.

This story is a take on the classic tale of Jekyll and Hyde except in this and the original, the split personality is much more played for laughs. So, how does Eddie handle the changing of personality? Eh.......not very well. He tries to make excuses that don't really work, and it's just plain awkward and weird. Those scenes are probably the worst in the movie.

This movie is pretty good as remakes go, and an unforgettable movie watching experience. If you haven't seen it, I urge you to do so.