Bowfinger (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Indifferent to it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Unmemorable
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Unmemorable

Advantages:	great cast
Disadvantages:	not as funny as expected .

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

I've owned this DVD for some time, during which I have watched it many times, but I have always thought that it was lacking something. I liked the film, but I felt that it wasn't as it could be considering the stars included in the cast.

Having almost watched my entire collection with my boyfriend, we have started to watch those DVDs I have deemed to be less good. Today, was Bowfingers chance to shine. Whilst it seemed slightly funnier than last time I saw it - perhaps because I've matured a little - the film still never quite grasped the audience by the horns so to speak. There was a lot of missed opportunity in my opinion, for example, jokes could have been stretched further and elaborated on. Instead, this film is an endless list of one-liners.

The Film:
The story starts with 'bowfinger' reading an apparently great script. All his life he has wanted to be a movie maker. He has a self titled 'business' called Bowfinger International Movies, despite having never made a movie to date. Bowfinger proceeds to arrange a meeting with his clientele.

After failing to persuade a director, or Kit Ramsey to work on his project, the group continue to make the film on their own, taking hidden footage of Kit whilst about his day to day business. This is difficult at the best of times, let alone when trying to complete such a project on a budget of $2184.

Unbeknown to bowfinger and his obedient cast, Kit has been fighting the struggle against paranoia and delusion. Things take a turn for the worst when cast members approach him in the street, to quote their lines, which are of a somewhat disturbing nature... or at least to him they are.

Bowfinger - Steve Martin
Kit Ramsey - Eddie Murphy
Daisy - Heather Graham

This is another film to add to a long list, in which Murphy plays multiple characters. Whilst Murphy is evidently good at such roles, it is more than a little disappointing to see him being type cast. A fresh new face perhaps would have been nice, instead of plumping for the good, but not great, reliable Eddie Murphy.

The story was all just a little too predictable for my taste. Whilst some of the characters were intended to be shallow and predictable, I couldn't help but think there was no real substance to the other characters. There was a feeling of something was about to happen, unfortunately this feeling continued throughout the film until the end without anything big ever actually happening.

The humour could only have been considered less than mature. Having said this, some jokes require a more mature view. Such as when daisy reveals her breasts during the film shoot. Her co-actor (of sorts) could do nothing but stare and laugh uncontrollably. Whilst this isn't what I would call mature... for any immature viewers, they may do exactly the same thing, instead of being able to see the amusement in such incidences. A lot of the jokes also seemed to be very simple and short-lasting. There was just 1 dimension to the whole film which I thought was a real pity, considering the basic plot of the film, it could have been so much better than it was. This also meant that the film, whilst funny the first time I watched it, quickly lost its appeal.

The portrayal of the characters seemed very realistic. Each of the characters had a very different personality which were all iconic of Hollywood.
E.g. Daisy - travelled to Hollywood (from Ohio) in an attempt to become famous. Like so many young, budding actors and actresses who believe they will instantly become famous. Daisy is determined to succeed in the cut-throat business of acting and will sleep her way to the top if that's what it takes.

However, this did make it hard to relate to such characters. I found it very hard to find anything at all with which I could relate to the cast of this film. With the only link being that some of the cast were female. This did detract from the film in my opinion, but then the film is set in America, and of course - differences in culture and lifestyle were also going to make it hard for a British audience to relate to these characters.

The ending, for me, was also very disappointing. Whilst the ending showed clearly an end to the story, and tied up all loose ends, there was no real finale. I was expecting something big from either of Eddie Murphy's characters, but once again this never came. The film could so easily have produced a big ending for Kit in particular, who could have had such drastic life changes.

On the upside, I liked the fact that this film was willing to tackle large issues such as racism. Kit is largely paranoid about racism that he is able to create from off-hand comments. This goes as far as to check for the number of 'K's in a script, to see if it is perfectly divisible by3. After discovering that it is, he claims that the script contains how ever many 'KKK's. This is very brave of the directors, and scriptwriter to tackle, as these comments could so easily have had a negative effect on the audience. Instead however, we are able to laugh at just how paranoid and delusional the character is.

I also liked the dog included in this film. Whilst I do not always agree with animal actors, this dog looked very happy, which is confirmed in the interviews with the cast. It was an excellent addition to the cast, and was very well trained.

This film has a clearly defined beginning , middle, and end, but instead of getting more intense towards the end, I found there was a lull in the middle. There was nothing to really hold my interest. This was mainly due to the lack of relations between me and the characters. I just didn't really care about the characters. I really didn't give a toss if they managed to make the film or not, if Kit went insane or not. The only thing that really did matter was that either way, I just wanted something big to happen.

Another problem with this film is that I found it to be too unrealistic. The characters were too stupid for my liking, or for the believability of the film. There is no way on earth that it would be possible to even attempt to make a film without one of the cast knowing, let alone a big movie star. There was a distinct lack of security around 'Kit' for some reason. Bowfinger would also know that he needs permission to release footage of such a star, but he seems oblivious. Particularly living in Hollywood, this just seems ridiculous. I know that for some people, the believability of a film doesn't matter. But for me, it is a big difference as to whether the film 'makes it'.

Overall, I would just have to say that this film has its moments, but it is a big disappointment.

I would guess that the target audience is adults as appose to children, as a lot of the jokes are based around more mature experiences etc. If I was to guess at an age range, I would probably guess that it was aimed at older adults - 30years + This is because it's the kind of film you watch when you have nothing else to do. A film you can just relax on the sofa whilst watching. Something that I'm guessing older people are more likely to do, and less likely for younger people to do. However, the rating of the film, says it is suitable for 12 years and over.

In total, the film lasts 93 minutes approximately, and has the added option of German language. Subtitles are also available in English, Dutch, German, Polish, Greek, Hebrew, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish, and Czech.

The theme tune perfectly represented an image of the sleepy back streets of Hollywood, with it's slow, sombre tune.

Special Features:
Spotlight on location - Interviews with the entire cast, and Frank Oz, the director. It gives an insight into what the film is about, and what it represents. Steve Martin (script writer) reveals the films origin, and his first thoughts of his idea. These interviews are split up with short clips of behind the scenes making.. This also includes the casts decisions for working on such a project, and a few insights into some of their past career. This lasts roughly 25 minutes.

Directors commentary - for some reason, all that came up when I chose this option were language, and subtitle options. I presume it's a fault in the manufacturing.

Deleted scenes - some rough drafts of scenes that are in the film (these are unedited with poor lighting etc), along with some scenes that were never included in the film (these were shot properly)

Outtakes - outtakes of scenes both included in the film, and from the deleted scenes. These are undoubtedly hilarious. Unfortunately, these last for less than 3 minutes.

Theatrical trailer - a short trailer which sums up the film entirely.

Production notes - 14 pages of text focusing on notes created by the production team, which gives details into the development of the characters, and the analysis of the performances by director Frank Oz.

Cast and filmmakers - Pictures, actors names and screen name are given in each section of a film reel. Any picture can be clicked on to give the biography of that person. There are 8 people to choose from - Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Heather Graham, Christine Baranski, Jamie Kennedy, Robert Downey. Jr, Terence Stamp, and Frank Oz.

DVD-ROM materials - require windows 95 or later, which I presume everybody has. This requires some installation. This includes items already mentioned, along with the ability to play the film, and a 'behind the scenes' section which is 9 pages of text focusing on details about backstage ideas, and comments. Each of these pages is brightened up with film stills.

This menu is coded with icons, such as a directors chair represents 'the making of', the key for these codes is accessible by clicking on the small 'i'

Some of the menus are animated, using the basis of the scenes from the film., Thos that aren't animated as such still show pictures from the film, set in each section of a film reel. All menus, and icons are very colourful, and easy to use.

Thanks for reading
Hannah xxx