In 1999 Steve Martin, one of my favorite comedy actors, teamed up with Eddie Murphy for the first time. The result was the very funny Bowfinger, one of my favorite comedy movies.

Bobby Bowfinger was a very unsuccessful director and producer that ran his struggling company out of his house. He decided that the script written by his accountant in twelve days would be a hit. The script, Chubby Rain, was about aliens coming to Earth in rain and then taking over the bodies of the people the rain landed on. Bobby convinced the small group he usually worked with that the movie would be made and a few of them, like Carol, turned down other job offers. Bobby bluffed and lied to convince a studio executive that Kit Ramsey, the biggest action star at the time, was going to be in the movie. Bobby’s attempt to get Kit to read the script failed but he still told all the others that Kit was going to be in the movie. Bobby only told Dave, a guy that also had a low level job at a big studio, what was really going on.

Bobby developed an explanation for the unique way he was shooting the movie including why Kit was never around and wouldn’t meet the rest of the cast. Bobby had auditions and hired Daisy, a woman that had just arrived in town on a bus from Ohio. Daisy immediately started plotting how she could get a bigger part. At one point it became necessary for Bobby to look for a man that looked like Kit to be in longer shots. Bobby hired Jiff, a nerdy guy that looked very much like Kit who also served as a gopher. Everyone later learned that Jiff was Kit’s brother. The unique way of shooting the movie seemed to be working, though Kit, who already had some issues, started to flip out.

Bowfinger focused on Bobby’s attempts to make his movie and not let anyone know about the lies he was spinning all over the place. He wasn’t a successful movie maker, so maybe that was why he thought a movie about aliens traveling in rain would be a hit. The plot for the movie Bobby wanted to make was so bizarre that it fit perfectly with the unique way Bobby developed to film it. I have seen other movies in which characters were actors working on a movie. I have never seen one that depicted the movie making process this way before. Bobby came up with a way to get Kit in the movie without him actually realizing he was in the movie. Kit was already dealing with some issues and was paranoid about aliens which lead to some interesting scenes. The movie was only about an hour and a half long, but it had a fairly complex plot for being so short. The movie moved quickly without feeling rushed.

Bowfinger was a very funny comedy. I think it is one of the funniest movies I’ve seen. The unique nature of the plot provided much of the humor. Just the idea for the movie that Bobby decided to make was funny. Bobby had creative ways of filming that make me laugh every time I watch the movie. One of the funniest scenes involved Bobby using his dog in a scene. The problems that Kit had caused him to flip out a few times, which made things funnier. He was a member of Mind Head, a very bizarre organization. I think it was meant to poke fun at the Church of Scientology, though I could be wrong. Other characters said or did several funny things. Carol tended to have expressions that I thought were funny. I really noticed that when she was watching video of a scene with Bobby and everyone else. I thought that the movie was consistently funny throughout the entire thing. I was never bored by anything that happened. Some viewers may feel that the movie is too silly.

Once Daisy was cast, she started sleeping her way through the male cast and crew. She wasn’t doing it just for sex. She was using sex to manipulate the men into making her part bigger and more important. She started out with one guy who had convinced Bobby to let her audition. She was wanting her part to be bigger right from the start so then she moved on to the writer to get him to write some new scenes. When she found out that Bobby would make the final decision about adding them, she set her sights on him. One or two scenes did seem to indicate that she was sleeping with more than one of them at the same time. She saw nothing wrong with using sex to get what she wanted. It was clear that Daisy was topless in one scene of the movie, though no actual nudity was shown in Bowfinger. There weren’t any sex scenes either. Instead, there were several sexual discussions and a few sexual situations that usually involved Daisy. Those things probably are why the movie was rated PG-13. There really isn’t anything offensive in the movie, though some people may be bothered by how Daisy was having sex with basically every man in the movie. Younger children really shouldn’t watch this movie, but it should be all right for older children.

Bobby was a very unsuccessful movie maker. I’m not even sure if he had managed to make a movie before he started work on Chubby Rain. He never lost his dream of making a hit movie, even when he was getting messages about the phone being disconnected. He was a very determined man, perhaps even a bit desperate. He lied and conned to get his movie made. At first, the idea for how it would be done was a bit stupid, but Bobby had to be somewhat smart to think it up. It required quick thinking and planning to film the way he was. He really did care about his friends. He didn’t want to disappoint them yet again, so he went ahead with filming. I love Steve Martin in this movie. I thought he was very funny. He really didn’t get a chance to do much physical comedy. Martin also wrote the screenplay for the movie.

Kit Ramsey may have been the most popular action actor at the time, but he had a lot of issues. He was visiting Terry Stricter at Mind Head very frequently. He was paranoid about aliens and no longer watched the sports channel because he believed aliens on Jupiter were using the channel to mess with his brain. He also had a problem concerning the Laker Girls. He really started to spiral out of control. Jiff was the complete opposite of his famous brother. He wore glasses, had braces, and was a bit of a nerd. He got embarrassed easily and was happiest when he was running errands. Eddie Murphy was wonderful playing both characters. He has played more than one character in many of his movies. He was completely believable as the two very different brothers. I have liked many Murphy movies, though there are times when he goes way over board with his performances and gets annoying. I didn’t think that happened in this movie. Terence Stamp turned up several times in short scenes as Terry. I thought he fit the part well.

Daisy went into the audition looking like an innocent girl from the midwest. She quickly started working on getting her part bigger. You could just see the wheels turning in her mind when she learned about the power another man would have with making decisions about the movie. She acted ditzy, especially at first, but she was really much smarter. For some reason she used a very bad accent and really over acted when she was in character for Chubby Rain. I think the accent even changed throughout the filming. Heather Graham was fine in the part. I’ve never been that impressed with her. Carol and Bobby had known each other for a long time and she kept waiting for him to get a movie going so she’d have a part. She had some very funny looking expressions and also did some over acting when in character. Christine Baranski was very funny, though her part was a bit smaller so she didn’t get as much to do. Dave worked with Bobby and also had a job at a big movie studio. He didn’t think Bobby’s plan was going to work but he went along with it. Jamie Kennedy was fine in the part. Robert Downy Jr showed up very briefly in a few scenes as the movie executive Bobby got interested in the movie with his lies.

Main Cast

Christine Baranski - Carol
Robert Downy Jr - Jerry Renfro
Heather Graham - Daisy
Jamie Kennedy - Dave
Steve Martin - Bobby Bowfinger
Eddie Murphy - Kit Ramsey/Jiff Ramsey
Terence Stamp - Terry Stricter

Frank Oz - Director

DVD INFORMATION

Bowfinger is available on DVD in full screen and widescreen formats. I have the widescreen version. The movie is also available on VHS. The special features include a commentary with Frank Oz, deleted scenes, outtakes, a spotlight on the location, the theatrical trailer, and a few other things like production notes and information about the cast and crew. I did think the outtakes were funny.

Bowfinger is one of the funniest comedies made in a very long time and I really enjoy it. It is one of my favorites. This is a must see movie for fans of Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy.

Steve Martin Movie Reviews
Novocaine ~ Looney Tunes: Back in Action ~ Housesitter ~ Cheaper by the Dozen ~ Cheaper by the Dozen 2 ~ Bringing Down the House ~ The Muppet Movie ~

Eddie Murphy Movie reviews
Showtime ~ Vampire in Brooklyn ~ The Haunted Mansion ~ Shrek ~ Shrek 2 ~



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older