Steve Martin, the funniest man alive in the 80s, lost his way in the 90s with the likes of "Leap Of Faith" and "A Simple Twist Of Fate". Now, after sterling work in David Mamet's "The Spanish Prisoner", Martin's return to writing and acting in straight-up comedy is surprisingly, reassuringly good. "Bowfinger" is a movie about movies, with all the potential for in-jokery and self-indulgence that brings, but for the most part dispenses with the clever-clever, isn't-Hollywood-shallow stuff to deliver laughs.
Martin's Bobby Bowfinger, a struggling producer desperate for a hit before he reaches the 'unemployable' age of 50, hits on the idea of putting action star Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy) in his new sci-fi film "Chubby Rain" without the star knowing anything about it. Consequently, Bowfinger's inept crew follows Ramsey around in increasingly crazy and surreal fashion, utilising everything from 'Will Work For Food' signs made of foil to cranes mounted on trucks to get the shot they need. When Bowfinger stumbles across a Kit double (Murphy again) who will do anything the director asks including fetch the coffee, he starts to think all his birthdays have come at once. Meanwhile, the neurotic Ramsey, never that stable to begin with, begins to lose it altogether as he becomes convinced that sex-crazed pod people are stalking him.
It's a simple plot and, while the script throws a few barbs at Hollywood, it's played mainly for big laughs - and gets them. Heather Graham is spot-on as the ingenue literally just off the bus from Ohio who is prepared to sleep with anyone to get longer scenes, and Jamie Kennedy is all laconic wit as Bowfinger's long-suffering assistant. Really, though, it's Martin and Murphy's show. The original wild and crazy guy shows he hasn't lost all his manic energy in the title role, nor his wit with the sharp script. Surprisingly enough, though, the standout performance is Murphy's; he is brilliant as both the paranoid, highly-strung Kit and his dumb-but-sweet double Jiff. This might even be a career-best.
It's simple, lightweight and throwaway of course, but comedies that try to SAY something, even if they're good, often just don't make you laugh that much. Bowfinger will.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Comedy - Director: Tony Dow - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: John Challis, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tessa Peake-Jones, Gwyneth Strong
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Production Year: 2000 - Comedy - Director: David Raynr - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, Shane West, Marla Sokoloff, James Franco, Colin Hanks, Christine Lakin, Aaron Paul
Film-makers often remark that it's just so hard to make a bad picture that few would take ... more
on the challenge if they weren't so naive. Steve Martin's Bobby Bowfinger is cut from that pattern, one of those sweet, indomitable operators of Hollywood who see...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Film-makers often remark that it's just so hard to make a bad picture that few would take ... more
on the challenge if they weren't so naive. Steve Martin's Bobby Bowfinger is cut from that pattern, one of those sweet, indomitable operators of Hollywood who see...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: refer to website
How does Bobby Bowfinger (Steve Martin) Hollywood's least successful director get Kit ... more
Ramsey (Eddie Murphy) Hollywood's biggest star in his ultra low-budget film? Any way he can. With an ingenious scheme and the help of the eager nerd Jiff an ambi...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
How does Bowfinger (Steve Martin), Hollywood's least successful director, get Kit Ramsey ... more
(Eddie Murphy), Hollywood's biggest star, in his ultra low-budget film? Any way he can. With an ingenious scheme and the help of Kit's eager nerdy brother Jiff, an...
![Bowfinger [DVD] [1999]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78533970.jpg "Bowfinger [DVD] [1999]")
very helpful by (67%):
helpful by (33%):
