Most people don’t realize that Eddie Murphy won the Best Actor award from the National Society of Film Critics for his performance in The Nutty Professor in 1996.  And it’s not like there was a shortage that year, either.  The NSFC passed up the likes of Billy Bob Thornton (for Slingblade), Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient), Tom Cruise (Jerry Maguire) and eventual Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush (Shine).

Was the NSFC off their cumulative rocker in ’96?  Maybe.  But the group has an uncanny knack for acknowledging deserving Academy Award nominees (like Russell Crowe and Nick Nolte), as well as talent that Oscar just plain overlooks (like Reese Witherspoon, Ally Sheedy and Bill Murray).  Their list of recent Best Picture winners reads like a who’s who of cinematic coolness (Being John Malkovich, Out of Sight, L.A. Confidential, Breaking the Waves).

Even though his performance in The Klumps is even stronger than it was in Professor, Murphy shouldn’t clear off his mantle just yet.  After all, The Klumps is a sequel to a remake of a Jerry Lewis film.  We’re not talking about your typical Oscar pedigree here, folks.

The Klumps takes the funniest and most memorable part of the first film – the titular professor’s four gassy relatives that are each played by Murphy – and builds the movie around them.  Ordinarily, this would be a recipe for disaster, but Murphy makes each of his characters so unique and so witty, you almost forget that it’s him underneath all of the makeup and latex.

Murphy’s performance aside, The Klumps isn’t really that good of a film.  Once again, Professor Sherman Klump (Murphy) is on the run from his genetic alter ego Buddy Love (Murphy).  The film also features storylines involving Sherman’s horny grandmother (Murphy) and his romantically challenged parents (Murphy and Murphy).  While the presence of the additional Klumps shows off Murphy’s wonderful skills as a character actor, the script does nothing but serve as a launching pad for a plethora of potty humor

The Klumps opens with a dream sequence where Sherman is marrying a fellow biology professor named Denise Gaines (Janet Jackson, Poetic Justice).  After admiring his bride’s ample cleavage, Sherman pops a boner that turns into Buddy Love.  The next scene, where Sherman’s father has a retirement party at an all-you-can-eat restaurant, is more lowbrow humor.  The meal is punctuated by burps, farts and talk of dick size, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  Before the credits start to roll, you’ll be treated to puke, flatulence, erectile dysfunction, saggy boobs, bestiality and projectile turds, as well as nods to films like Star Wars, Cape Fear and Armageddon.

The crux of the lame story, which was co-written by Barry W. Blaustein and David Sheffield (Nutty) and Paul and Chris Weitz (American Pie), focuses on Sherman’s latest invention – a fountain of youth formula that can actually make a person younger.  None of it makes sense, and the inconsistent script has plot holes big enough for a Klump to fall through.

On the plus side, Jackson is an improvement over Nutty’s annoying Jada Pinkett, although Pinkett probably wouldn’t have insisted that her new song be played throughout the film.  Larry Miller and John Ales reprise their roles as Sherman’s money-hungry dean and lab assistant, respectively.  Directed by Peter Segal (My Fellow Americans), The Klumps features some pretty funny outtakes during the closing credits, so don’t leave the theatre early.

1:45 - for crude humor and sex-related material