After being bullied by jocks once too often, nerdy science professor Jerry Lewis resolves to beef himself up. When bodybuilding doesn’t work, he turns to chemicals to get the job done. But instead of making him strong, the formula he concocts turns him into the ultra-hip swinger Buddy Love -- a cool, confident cat who also happens to be a pretty big jerk.
As Buddy Love, Lewis woos pretty coed Stella Stevens, who is alternately attracted and repelled by his egotistical attitude. Adding to the difficulties is the fact that the formula is unpredictable, kicking in and wearing off at inopportune times. Soon the effects are wreaking havoc with both of Lewis’s personalities, and the whole situation inevitably comes to a head when both the klutzy professor and Buddy Love are expected to be at the same place at the same time.
Is it any good?
I know next to nothing about Jerry Lewis and even less about the old Martin and Lewis comedy team, so unfortunately I can only write about THE NUTTY PROFESSOR from a place of supreme ignorance. I do know that Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis had broken up their act several years before this movie was made and Lewis had already become a bankable star on his own, but the character of Buddy Love is clearly a riff on the cool Rat Packers that Dean Martin was hanging with. Without any context, it’s hard to know whether Lewis was skewering his one-time partner or whether he was simply goofing on a persona that even the Rat Pack didn’t take all that seriously. But whatever the origins, Buddy Love is a magnificent creation and a truly charismatic jerk.
The genius in the movie lies in the unpredictability of Buddy Love. During his first appearance, he’s aggressive and egotistical, but always charming. He has an exciting carpe diem philosophy, and ultimately melts Stella’s objections by making her see how much he really digs her. But on Buddy Love’s second appearance, the mix of personality is slightly off. He’s just ever so slightly less charming, and suddenly his whole act looks boorish and pathetic. Whether from personal experience or close observation, Jerry Lewis apparently knew exactly where the dividing line lay between charming and obnoxious.
The nerdy professor character is a bit harder to swallow -- he’s a complete stereotype and it’s hard to see exactly what Stella Stevens is supposed to see in him. (She goes back and forth between the two throughout the movie.) Besides a battery of annoying tics, the biggest problem with the professor is that he has no spine whatsoever. This is resolved a bit at the very end when he gives up the Buddy Love personality for good, but still one imagines that Stella Stevens must be one forgiving gal to even consider him romantically.
All in all, this is a pretty awesome movie, and as reluctant as I am to agree with the French about anything I do think they may be on to something with this Jerry Lewis guy. If nothing else, this movie will hopefully continue to help future generations of “nice guys” better understand why ladies sometimes prefer “charming, exciting, but jerky” over “nice but always boring”.
I never understood all the Jerry Lewis hate. His movies were on TV constantly when I was a kid, and I always really liked them. My favourite was probably The Family Jewels, if only because Lewis plays like a million different character, including a bumbling detective who is kidnapped and held for ransom by a bumbling gangster who is also Jerry Lewis (except this time with a Fedora and boot-black stubble).
ReplyDeleteAlso this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAwKPjDwb9M