After watching Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), I had hoped to find the next in the series, Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), before moving onto the recently released Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.  Circumstances prevented this from happening, but I did find another Eddie Murphy film, The Nutty Professor (1996).  One needs to specify this iteration as it is a remake of a 1963 film of the same name starring Jerry Lewis.  Since I have not seen the original, or at least do not remember doing so, I cannot tell you if there is a marked difference between the two.  What I can say is the 1996 version is sad, but underscores the importance of understanding the love that God has for the person He made you to be.  As one of the characters more succinctly put it, “The Good Lord made you beautiful inside and out.”  I prefer a different, though no less clichéd phrase when it comes to overcoming the shame the world can heap upon you: God does not make mistakes.  What I am about to describe to you is meant to be a comedy, but it is actually an hour and a half of fat shaming.  In fairness, it does try to give you a message of acceptance no matter your body type.  Nonetheless, at times it is difficult to watch.

At Wellman College, The Nutty Professor is extremely overweight Professor Sherman Klump (Eddie Murphy), though the initial zaniness is a horde of hamsters escaping from his laboratory and spreading out over campus.  This seems to be the latest in a string of mishaps that has Dean Richmond (Larry Miller) about to lose whatever shred of patience he has left for his scientist.  Because of these accidents, the school has lost a great deal of funding, and Dean Richmond blames it on Professor Klump.  While this latest incident is Professor Klump’s fault, he continues his genetic research into the reasons for obesity and how to counteract it.  Given his chunkiness, he has reasons to do so.  During his class, his students laugh at him while he writes on the chalkboard, his paunch simultaneously erasing what is lower on the surface.  As this class lets out, in walks Carla Purty (Jada Pinkett), a graduate student who is teaching chemistry.  She is genuinely interested in Professor Klump and his work, offering him her address so that they could discuss it further some time.  Later that evening, he goes to eat with his family.  Here the film gives us more stereotypes about being fat that go overboard to the point of being disgusting through the use of flatulence.  This is a low point in the proceedings.  In the midst of this awfulness, Professor Klump’s mother, Anna Pearl Jensen-Klump (Eddie Murphy) gives her the encouraging words quoted in the introduction.  Let us thank God for small blessings.  With this in mind, he decides to ring Carla’s door.  Doing so results in her agreeing to a date.  To prepare, he puts himself through a series of exercises that leaves him feeling good about himself.  Their evening is going well until Reggie Warrington (Dave Chappelle), a stand-up comedian, comes out to do a set.  His act involves picking on audience member’s physical characteristics.  When his attention swings around to Professor Klump, the embarrassment is near total.  With the sour taste of his humility on his mind, the next day Professor Klump locks himself in his laboratory in order to solve his weight issues.  The solution turns out to be a serum that when consumed turns him into a slimmed down version of himself.  He can hardly believe his success.  It is so complete that when Carla enters the lab to look for Professor Klump, she does not recognize him.  Not wanting her to know who it really is, he calls himself Buddy Love.  He must usher her out the door quickly because he finds that the solution’s effects are not permanent as his body eventually reverts to its normal size.  Professor Klump later encounters Carla, who asks about the strange, but still familiar, person she found in the lab.  He tells her that it is Buddy and that they should go out some time.  When they do, it becomes apparent that the stuff Professor Klump is ingesting not only makes him thinner, but boosts his testosterone levels to an outrageous level.  This comes out when Buddy turns the tables on Reggie, belittling the comic to the delight of the audience.  Not only do things appear to be going well with Carla in the Buddy guise, but Dean Richmond comes to give Professor Klump one more opportunity to bring in grant money for the school.  The next Friday, Dean Richmond has arranged for Professor Klump to meet with Harlan Hartley (James Coburn), a wealthy donor who has $10 million he might wish to give to the school.  It is at this time, though, that problems begin to emerge.  The first comes when Professor Klump’s laboratory assistant, Jason (John Ales), discovers his teacher’s secret.  Jason notes the dangers, but Professor Klump does not feel confident enough to keep up a relationship with Carla by himself.  Their next date is supposed to be at the same time as when he is set to give a proposal to Harlan.  Unable to resist, Professor Klump changes into Buddy and heads to the hotel with Carla, the same one where he supposed to see Harland and Dean Richmond.  Buddy is convinced to go speak to the philanthropist since he knows Professor Klump’s work.  It ends with an impressed Harland, but a furious Carla.  Her anger is the result of Buddy chatting up three other women.  The next morning, she comes to Professor Klump’s home to find those same three females there, causing her to be angry with the real person, too.  It is at this point, aided by a video made by Buddy, that Professor Klump realizes he has gone too far.  Yet, the recording proves to be a trick, and Professor Klump transforms into Buddy before heading to a school benefit.  It is here that Buddy plans to “kill” Professor Klump by showing how the metamorphosis works before taking enough of the serum to make the change permanent.  He is saved by Jason, and after fighting the two halves of himself, he remains the large Professor Klump.  Still, Harlan is impressed with the presentation and gives the money.  So, too, is Carla, and the final scene is of them dancing.

It was hard at times while watching The Nutty Professor to stomach the humor.  There is only one kind of joke throughout, and they all pertain to weight.  I am not innocent of bullying others based on appearance.  I have said some awful things to people over the years.  Many complain these days that we live in a world that is too politically correct, and there might be some aspects where this kind of thinking goes too far.  At the same time, there is nothing wrong with being sensitive to the feelings of others.  It is interesting because being both mean and Christ-like to others involves communication.  How do you put another down?  You tell a joke about them, either to their face or (arguably worse) behind their back, that ridicules something about which they are embarrassed.  How do you do the opposite as God would rather have you do?  Tell them how much they are loved, particularly by God.  You see these things happen in the movie, though the building up part is not put into Christian terms.  I have already mentioned what Anna said about her son, but it is Carla that is perhaps more saint-like.  She is the one that says to Professor Klump what Jesus would likely say if it was He interacting with the scientist: that there is nothing about which to be ashamed.  Further, she appears to be more interested in that which God is interested, that being what is on the inside.  God sees what we cannot see, and the film underscores how so many judge others based on the external.  Even if what is on the outside is not aesthetically pleasing based on whatever standard we invent, it is not how God looks at the whole person.  You might feel these words are a matter of fact, little more.  But I know there is someone out there that needs to hear that God loves you.  As such, He wants you to love yourself as Professor Klump learns to do by the end.

Despite The Nutty Professor landing in the right place, I still would not recommend it.  As I have discussed at some length, not only are the fat jokes repetitive, but they become grating to the soul.  Finally, Murphy’s performance as Buddy is a bit over-the-top.  I would pass on this one.