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Parents' Guide to

The Nutty Professor

By Michael Scheinfeld, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

A dumb, offensive movie--a good one to skip.

Movie PG-13 2002 95 minutes
The Nutty Professor Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 14+

Based on 12 parent reviews

Rhiannon80
Rhiannon80 Parent of 9, 11 and 13-year-old
March 11, 2021
age 18+

Disappointing

This movie is clever with the characters and makeup. How Eddie Murphy can be all characters at once is genius! However the sexual and racial inappropriateness ruins this film. I seen this when I was younger but as a parent of boys who tend to push the limits, this movie would give them full rein. We need to think about what our kids are exposed to and how they learn about life from movies. This movie shows the gross disfunction of a family. We can do much better for our kids. Leave this one out.

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much swearing
2 people found this helpful.
Accurate P.
Accurate P. Parent of 16-year-old
May 13, 2023
age 11+

Rated PG for language and sexual content

CSM's review of fill of crap. Hey gave the movie a 5/5 for swearing and sex.

This title has:

Too much sex
1 person found this helpful.
See all 12 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Eddie Murphy plays seven roles in this remake of Jerry Lewis' 1963 comedy. Portly professor Sherman Klump (Murphy) falls for grad student Carla (Jada Pinkett), but he's too shy and self-conscious about his weight to make a move. When Klump invents a weight-loss potion and tests it on himself, he's transformed from a sweet, overweight guy into attractive, incredibly arrogant womanizer Buddy Love. Buddy tries to seduce Carla, and the inner Sherman eventually tries to conquer his horrible alter ego and return to his normal, goodnatured self.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (12 ):
Kids say (37 ):

THE NUTTY PROFESSOR is a relentlessly tasteless star vehicle for Eddie Murphy, designed to let him show off his comic virtuosity. While his performances (and the Oscar-winning make-up effects) are technically impressive, the numerous scenes showing him portraying every member of his family at the dinner table are protracted and bring the plot to a dead stop.

The movie's major problem, however, is its torrent of profanity, nasty insults (including fat jokes and racial epithets), and its misguided obsession with flatulence. The anally-fixated script may delight twelve-year-old boys, but parents may well be horrified that this is what now passes for family entertainment in Hollywood. The sappy ending when Sherman says, "Life is not about how much you weigh, but being happy with yourself" is nothing more than a phony attempt at pathos to make up for the previous ninety minutes of raunchiness.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the appeal of gross-out humor. They could also discuss the line between silly and offensive.

Movie Details

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