Movies: Independence Day | The Nutty Professor

Independence Day is here...and it's BIG

Our pick:
1 2 3 4 5

• Independence Day
• PG-13
• Starring Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum
• 145 minutes

n alien space ship one-fourth the mass of the moon is headed toward Earth, and no one is sure what will happen when it arrives. The president of the United States (Pullman) can only watch as the ship settles into orbit and dispatches several "smaller" craft that take position above every major city in the world. While the president tries to prevent a panic, few people can stay calm at the sight of 15-mile-long space ships hovering over their cities.

When Marine Captain Steven Hiller (Smith) is called to duty, he's sure the aliens didn't fly all this way just to pick a fight -- but he tells his girlfriend to take her son and leave Los Angeles, just in case. Meanwhile, computer genius David Levinson (Goldblum) discovers that the aliens are using Earth's satellites for their own purpose. In fact, they are counting down.

David rounds up his eccentric father (Judd Hirsch) and sets off to explain what's happening to his ex-wife (Margaret Colin). She's the president's communication director, and when David tells her what the aliens are up to, she convinces the president to listen. He quickly orders the cities evacuated and rushes to Air Force One.

As the countdown reaches zero, the aliens show the people of Earth exactly what they are planning. They begin an all-out war with no negotiation, no compromise and no mercy. In fact, the human race may well have only one chance to save itself from complete extermination...

Independence Day is the next BIG science fiction movie and it does not disappoint. Director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin (Stargate) have written and crafted a fine film that's exciting, funny, touching and even a little scary.

Part war movie and part disaster flick, Independence Day is great entertainment. With spectacular special effects (the White House getting blown to pieces is only the beginning) and dog fights that rival anything from Star Wars, science fiction fans will also be pleased by the many clever details that come straight from UFO lore.

While there's always a quibble or two to be had -- the music is very overbearing whenever the action stops, and the film is more than a little manipulative -- these are minor complaints about the best science fiction movie since Aliens.

And while the cast may have to share star billing with the special effects, they do a fine job in their own right. Smith has graduated to the big leagues by proving he can captivate audiences as a leading man, and Goldblum seems to own the role of eccentric-scientist-in-a-blockbuster-film. Pullman is a bit young for his presidential role, but he does what he can with the film's most serious part.

The rest of the cast is filled with wonderful character actors, lead by Hirsch's Julius. Science fiction fans will be thrilled to see Brent Spiner as the wacked-out-scientist, Dr. Okun. Only the women's roles lack inspiration as they are relegated to playing it spunky, sexy or saintly while they watch their men go off to war.

In my opinion this film will join the ranks of Star Wars and Aliens. Quite simply put, Independence Day is a blast. -- Kathie

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Eddie Murphy's back...and he's funny!

Our pick:
1 2 3 4 5

• The Nutty Professor
• PG-13
• Starring a bunch of Eddie Murphys and Jada Pinkett
• 95 minutes

herman Klump (Murphy) is a college professor and scientific genius who's trying to discover a way to reconstruct DNA to help people lose weight. He is also a gentle and sweet 450 pound lump who seems constantly ready to apologize for his own existence. The more he wants to be thin, the more his clumsiness draws attention to his size.

His students laugh at him, the dean of the college wants to kill him and images of how easy it is to lose weight assault him. When Sherman meets a lovely young teacher, Miss Carla Purty (Pinkett), he falls in love. She not only admires his work, but she even accepts a date with him. However, during the date at a club, a vicious comedian (Dave Chapelle) rips Sherman apart with every fat joke he can think of. Profoundly embarrassed, Sherman takes Carla home, unable to hide his devastation.

Feeling that Carla will never be able to love him as he is, Sherman swallows a formula from his latest experiment. In Jekyll and Hyde fashion, Sherman becomes Buddy Love, a thin, testosterone-filled cad who's filled with confidence, ego and meanness. It doesn't take long before Buddy gets revenge against the comic and goes after Carla in a way Sherman never would. But the formula wears off and he becomes Sherman again.

Soon it becomes a fight between Sherman and Buddy over who will win not only Carla, but Sherman's body as well.

Based on 1963 Jerry Lewis movie of the same name, The Nutty Professor should have been named The Fat Professor, as Sherman Klump isn't very nutty. However, he is fat, and that's really what the movie is about. Fat jokes abound, and there is a overall mean spiritedness in the nature of the jokes.

However, the focus on fat doesn't make The Nutty Professor any less funny. While bodily function jokes often take center stage, Murphy's Sherman is the heart of the movie. And Murphy is brilliant. Sherman is a character he's never played before, and perhaps never could play given his own physical dynamics. However, under mountains of makeup Murphy is free to be gentle and touching. While Murphy is the reason The Nutty Professor succeeds, he couldn't have done it without incredible special effects that mark Sherman's transformation to and from Buddy.

The Nutty Professor is truly an Eddie Murphy film, and he plays seven roles to prove it. As arguing members of the Klump family, Murphy is hysterical during the Papa, Mama, Grandma, Ernie and Sherman Klump dinner scenes. He also plays a Richard Simmons look-alike, who seems to be on Sherman's television no matter which channel he turns to. As Carla, Pinkett plays "the girl" well, even if she's a little too young looking next to Klump.

After a string of disastrous movies, it's good to see Murphy better than ever. Without a doubt, Eddie Murphy is back, and he's brilliant. -- Kathie

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