Murphy’s comic genius shines in Nutty Professor sequel despite script

In theaters

NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS. Directed by Peter Segal. Written by Barry W. Blaustein, David Sheffield, Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz. 110 minutes. Rated PG-13.

For months, Peter Segal’s “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps” has had one of the funniest trailers running in theaters. Eddie Murphy back in drag as the Klumps? For fans of 1996’s “The Nutty Professor,” that’s almost as good as bringing back Elvis from the dead.

It’s unfortunate, then, that this is one of those instances where the trailer takes the film’s best, most outlandish moments and compresses them into a raucous, unforgettable, two-minute clip.

“The Klumps” has its fun moments, but hardly enough of them. It’s a disappointment that proves if a director doesn’t have a great script to back even the most talented of actors (Murphy is brilliant here), the overall effort will die-in this case, from comedic starvation.

Just as in the last “Professor,” “The Klumps” revolves around Sherman Klump (Murphy), an obese, hugely likable scientist who, this time out, has discovered a formula for turning back the aging processes. It’s an event that would have been worth celebrating if, during the discovery, Sherman didn’t realize he still had traces of Buddy Love-his hyper-vicious alter ego-coursing through his DNA.

Through a ridiculously contrived event not worth explaining here, Buddy manages to bust free from Sherman’s DNA-only to launch an all-out attempt to sell Sherman’s anti-aging formula to a pharmaceutical company for $150 million.

Whatever. Anyone who’s seen the trailer knows that none of this matters. The only reason this film was made was so Murphy could slip into makeup artist Rick Baker’s ingenious, Academy Award-winning costumes and become the Klumps.

That’s good enough reason for me, especially since this film is at its best when leaving its lame plot behind to focus on a family Eddie Murphy brings to life with spectacular panache.

They’re all here: Sherman’s father, Cletus, who’s having monumental sexual problems; Sherman’s mother, Mama, who’s praying for a miracle to hit the bedroom soon; his deadbeat brother, Ernie; and the scandalous, scene-stealing Granny, who’s surprisingly limber, enthusiastic sex life is explored in great detail with a certain “stripper man” she takes full advantage of.

It can’t be easy for an actor to define so many characters under so many different layers of latex, so enough can’t be said for how well Murphy pulls it off. As a mimic, he’s always been a genius, but time and talent have now turned him into a formidable actor.

Never once in “The Klumps” does he rely on the latex and padding to do the work for him; each of his characters has been deeply thought out beforehand. The way he moves as Granny, speaks as Cletus, and behaves as Mama are so clearly different, it’s a triumph of acting that can’t be ignored.

With Janet Jackson in a fine performance as Sherman’s girlfriend, a scientist offered a full professorship at the University of Maine, the problem here isn’t the performances, but the script, which plunges deep into the toilet bowl and pulls out, well-use your imagination.

Grade: C+

On video

WHATEVER IT TAKES. Directed by David Rayner. Written by Mark Schwahn. 98 minutes. Rated PG-13.

The blueprint for David Rayner’s romantic teen comedy, “Whatever it Takes,” was written long before most teens were even a blip in their great-grandparents’ eyes.

Loosely based on Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play “Cyrano de Bergerac,” this perky little adaptation takes Rostand’s famous tale and staples every teen cliche to it – hysterical prima donnas, acne-free vixens, the never-ending battle between the popular and the unpopular, fart jokes galore and sex jokes ad nauseam.

So it’s surprising that, in spite of the cinematic ruts it travels in so neatly, the film stays afloat in its tried but true storyline of a boy helping another boy get the girl the former boy eventually realizes he wants for himself.

The film follows Ryan (Shane West), an unpopular accordion player who’s best friends with his next-door neighbor Maggie (Marla Sokoloff), a sweet, bookish girl who’s everything Ryan wants in a girlfriend. The problem is that Ryan doesn’t know it yet. Why? Because he’s smitten with Ashley, a midriff-baring man trap who makes Monica Lewinsky look as if she graduated cum laude from Miss Marple’s School for the Well-Mannered and Well-Behaved.

Still, Ryan’s willing to do anything to snag Ashley as his girlfriend, so he strikes a deal with Ashley’s cousin Chris (James Franco), a dumb yet popular jock who happens to have a thing for Maggie. Together, these two will help each other win their girl.

As predictable as all of this is (is there anyone who doesn’t know how this film will turn out?), “Whatever it Takes” is saved by its good performances, its likable characters and its surprisingly sharp wit, which lifts what could have been just another standard-issue teen flick. Grade: B

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Monday and Thursday in the NEWS, and Tuesday and Thursday on NEWS CENTER at 5:30 and NEWS CENTER at 11.