The Nutty Professor

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source: The Nutty Professor

Like the title character's alter ego, Buddy Love, this film shows the real-life demise of a great talent. What exactly happens to people when they reach the type of super stardom that Jerry Lewis attained by the time he made this film is a mystery. Is it the incessant hounding of the media for any tidbit of opinion? Is it the special treatment you receive from everyday strangers? Is it the red carpet lifestyle given gratis to those that need it least? Certainly huge piles of instant money and a golden rake has something to do with the loss of ones grip on reality. Regardless, the list is long and prestigious of those that have fallen from talented super-star to just another loud buffet marquee. The irony is they inevitably think their current work is actually eclipsing that of their earlier, Sting sans `The Police' comes to mind. The Nutty Professor is the point, in my opinion, where Jerry Lewis proverbially `jumps the shark' with his career. In the film, mild mannered college professor/geek Julius Kelp, played by Lewis so far over the top it is annoying (complete with mail order bad teeth), experiences a Jekyll and Hyde type transformation into alter ego, the swinging and suave Buddy Love, played with so much grease in his hair it appears to continue onto his face as well. Written and directed by Lewis, the project fails at every level he is involved, sometimes with unintentional comedic effect, such as how old and out of touch the college students are. Over all, the movie is very annoying. The script, when it makes any sense, is cliché and boring, the sight gags are dated and mostly sophomoric. The characters Lewis dreams up are unimaginative, but by far, the most painful aspect of this film is how much the monster, Buddy Love, resembles Lewis' actual latter day persona. It feels as if Lewis thinks deep down the audience does envy Buddy. Have you ever watched Lewis do a Larry King interview and thought, "what is he thinking? Doesn't he know he looks like a conceited ass?" He has a way of even making sucking on a mint look pompous. I found the entire experience of the Nutty Professor to be repulsive, and this is coming from a life long Martin and Lewis fan, as well as a fan on some of Lewis' solo work. The film would be a complete loss were it not for the very watchable Stella Stevens, inexplicably attracted to Buddy, the appearance of Les Brown and Band, and an over all cool feel that most films made in the early sixties possess. Out side of that, however, you may be better off watching Michael Jackson dangle young children from 5 star hotel windows. 3 out of 10 stars, entirely for Stevens and retro hipness.

THE NUTTY PROFESSOR (1963) **** Jerry Lewis, Stella Stevens, Del Moore, Kathleen Freeman, Howard Morris. Jerry Lewis' comic masterpiece (which he also directed) adapts the Jekyll-Hyde story to tailor form-fitting to his loose frenetic talents and comes up with two memorable characters: feeble social outcast chemistry professor Dr. Julius Kelp all chipmunk-toothed geekiness and bad hair becomes lounge lizard, charming bully Buddy Love (some say he was inspired by Dean Martin, which Lewis steadfastedly denied). Funny, touching and out-there! Groovy, man, groovy!

Easily Jerry's best film without Dean. After all these years it still holds up well. The Eddie Murphy remake was fine but this one did it without special effects. Favorite scene is the flashback of The Professors early life. His mother rules his milqtoast dad with an iron hand and in the background can be seen a toddler in a playpen who looks a little goofy. The close up reveals Jerry in baby PJ's. Then there is the legendary Alaskan Polar Bear Heater!

Slapstick is the most pathetic and sophemoric form of humor. Lewis is annoying and grating as both the suave buddy love and the nerdish...whatever his name was. I hate this movie, and the french are insane for liking this guy. I know this guy Matt Hoch who loves Lewis, and that is so funny, as he is the least talented performer of any era ever.

This is now the second Jerry Lewis movie that I've recently watched - And I swear that it'll be the last. I refuse to watch another film with this #1 A-Hole in it, ever again. In one word - I sum up Jerry Lewis as being nothing but AWFUL!!!... AWFUL!!... AWFUL!! This brain-dead Jekyll & Hyde story from 1963 stank, big-time. With Lewis portraying 2 personae in this picture - He certainly managed to be unbearably irritating as both characters. It was especially as the infantile Dr. Julius Kelp character (aka. the nutty professor) that Lewis totally grated on my nerves like you wouldn't believe. It was a good thing for subtitles here 'cause otherwise I wouldn't have ever understood WTF!? his character was babbling about most of the time. I honestly cannot believe that this idiotic doofus (Lewis) was a really popular and well-liked comedian of his generation. ' Cause, as I said earlier - Lewis was AWFUL!! AWFUL!! AWFUL!!

Many critics consider this to be Jerry Lewis' best film. Not being a big Lewis fan, I can't comment on that, but it offers - at least in this day-and-age - a number of good and bad features. THE GOOD- This has a much nicer tone to it than the re-make, of course, (restrictions back then when this was released). The speech at the end of the movie by the professor (Lewis) was outstanding: touching with some profound statements. Some earlier comic bits were funny, beginning with Lewis in the Dean's office. Perhaps the best humor was simply provided by Lewis making faces when he played the nerdy science prof. His other character is not appealing, but it's not supposed to be. However, I got tired a seeing a cigarette dangling out of his mouth. (This was supposed to be a takeoff on Dean Martin). Stella Stevens was a pretty woman, except for the excessive eye makeup that was the style of the '60s. Some of the dated expressions in here were funny to hear. THE BAD - A number of Lewis' bits were not that humorous and his singing was atrocious. Why almost all entertainers - comedians, actors, etc - back then thought they were also good singers, is beyond me. You can just fast-forward through Jerry's songs. SUMMARY - If you are younger and-or watched the Eddie Murphy re-make first, you'll be disappointed in this.

Further to my earlier review, I would wholeheartedly endorse the opinion of other reviewers that the original Lewis movie is superior - vastly superior - to the crass Eddie Murphy re-make. Lewis's subtle points about Buddy Love (whom, I am unsurprised to learn, he loathed) are utterly lost in the Murphy version. If Lewis's movie fails as popular entertainment, it is because it makes extraordinary intellectual demands on its audience, requiring them to see beyond the surface glamour of Buddy Love to the moral rottenness and egotism within. Strangely enough, however, Buddy Love is not without pathos. There is enough of Kelp in him, together with the shakiness of his chemically-induced persona, to lend a faint suggestion of vulnerability. Perhaps even this is part of his satanic charm (he literally charms the pants off the college Principal). It is no coincidence that his calling-card number is "That Old Black Magic"!

If your life is going by too fast, rent this film - you'll think time has come to a stop! Nearly every scene seems to last forever. I can't believe we watched the whole thing, so beware - you'll either fall asleep like I did, or go so numb that you can't pick up the remote to turn this mess off. Lewis is a terrible actor and an even worse director. What are the French thinking? Take my word for it - just about any other film would be a better choice, but here are some suggestions for way better comedies: Groundhog Day, The Dish, The Castle, It Happened One Night, The Girl in the Cafe, Dave, You've Got Mail, and Sleepless in Seattle.