Sherman's slender, testosterone-fueled alter ego, Buddy Love, returns by literally erupting out of Sherman's orifices - during Sherman's wedding ceremony! And that's just the first scene. Director Peter Segal ('Tommy Boy,' 'Naked Gun 33-1/3') and his five credited screenwriters (!) seem to be playing a desperate version of Can You Top This? as they seek to out- Farrelly and out- Wayans the comic competition.

Inevitably, 'Nutty Professor II' - whose plot is nonsensical even by the exaggerated standards of farce - plays more like a few TV-comedy sketches incoherently strung together than a real movie. My favorite remains the bighearted and slightly prim (but sexually frustrated) Mama Klump, who I could swear used to dish me out beanie-weenie and fruit cup at Columbus Elementary School. They all have distinctive personalities, although the women, interestingly enough, seem more clearly delineated than cantankerous Daddy Klump and Sherman's dunderhead brother, Ernie. The Klumps may be familiar grotesques drawn from the rich tradition of African-American family comedy, but Murphy views them all, even lascivious Granny, with undisguised affection. Sure, this is a parlor trick, but it's a hell of a good one. Of course, through electronic wizardry and some remarkable makeup effects (even better this time around), Murphy also plays all the members of Sherman's extended family.

On the other hand, Murphy in his most genial mode can nearly carry an entire movie just through free-form goofing around, which is about what you get with 'Nutty Professor II: The Klumps.' If the novelty has worn off Murphy's delightfully sympathetic and elegant portrayal of the shy, sweet and enormous Professor Sherman Klump, it remains a landmark in his career that's well worth visiting twice. In Murphy's case, unpredictable emotion is apparently so close to the surface that being boxed into some lame screenwriter's idea of character tends to turn him into a mean-spirited, hyperactive creep. It's a tiresome showbiz axiom that all comedians are filled with bitterness and pain, but like most tiresome axioms, it holds some truth. Eddie Murphy is such an enormous but undisciplined talent that he gets into trouble when playing ordinary movie roles, as in the mediocre 'Bowfinger' or the vile 'Beverly Hills Cop' series.

One in a million you the klumps