THE NUTTY PROFESSOR (47)

Directed by: Tom Shadyac

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Jada Pinkett

The Pitch: Obese-but-loveable chemistry professor thinks he can solve his romantic problems with a potion that transforms him into...well, Eddie Murphy.

Theo Sez: A simplification of an already fairly simple original, in that Lewis's Julius Kelp (the Dr. Jekyll character) was at least a genuinely irritating nerd whereas Sherman Klump (Murphy in a likeable Oliver Hardy impression) is a Beautiful Human Being trapped in an outsize body. The point turns out to be another 90s plug for New Man sensitivity - Buddy Love / Mr. Hyde, despite his yuppie arrogance, is full of energy and able to get things done, yet is far more explicitly the movie's villain, a temptation to be resisted, than in the earlier version. In itself the film is a confident star vehicle - the star's best in years - padded out with irrelevant (but fashionable) burp-and-fart gags and those vaguely irritating comic montages set to bouncy music that have become a staple of Hollywood comedies. It's seldom hilarious, but a smoothly put-together and (despite the scatology) cleverly detailed entertainment.