Written and starred in by Steve Martin with the intention of parodying his fall from grace within Hollywood.
I rented it out without much hope to watch with my mates and I have to say I was very pleasantly suprised, so keep reading.
~Story line~
Bowfinger is a self-employed director who has his whole life been looking for a break. Unfortunately for Bowfinger no-one believes in him and he is nearing destitution.
With only a rag tag bunch of actors Bowfinger makes a last ditch attempt at making a hit with a script written by his accountant (and part time receptionist) afram called, "Chubby rain". Naturally his crew are sceptical but Bowfinger promises them that he is going out for lunch with a big time director to sort it out.
What this really means is that he will get a valet friend of his to 'borrow' a mercedes for him, steal a suit from the taylor's and basically turn up at a restaurant where a big time director is going to be.
Showing what a cunning opportunist he is, Bowfinger bribes himself a seat next to the director and makes a couple of very loud pretend phone calls to a star he gets his script read by a big time producer. This producer who is a sterotypical patronising Hollywood moron reads it and with a concealed smile promises Bowfinger the film if he can get Kitt Ramsey (the biggest action star in the US today and also a bit unstable ).
Believing he is on the path to success Bowfinger appears at Kitt's house posing as Script delivery. He however cannot get him to co-operate until he convinces him they are both members of an organisation called Minehead. Unfortunately for Bowfinger he is for once (rarely) seen through very quickly and is thrown out of Kitt's car to boot.
Realising the truth, that there is no way he can get Kitt on board he takes his deviousness to whole new extremes and decides to include Kitt in the film...without his knowledge.
Now I realise my summing up can't really do this film even near justice. It is absolutely fantastic with laughs a minute.
~Cast~
Steve Martin has written a great script and is fantastic in this film as the bull-shitting, opportunistic Steve Martin. He spools of great lines throughout and deserves great praise.
Eddie Murphy is perfect in his dual role as Kitt Ramsey and also his twin brother who turns up later in the film. He manages to in his patented manner over act in a manner that is absolutely perfect in this film.
Heather Graham plays well as the new addition to Bowfinger's cast. She manages to match cutesy with manipulation in a ideal fashion for this role as well as adding a high profile female name to the project..
The supporting cast are well chosen for their parts and play their roles to a tee.
~Direction~
The man responsible for this was Frank Oz (also directed In and Out) and the film has clearly benefited from having the screenplay writer permenantly on site as the star.
~Conclusion~
Overall this is a surprisingly great film that most people will get a kick out of. There are a huge number of laughs in this film and I (and friends) thoroughly enjoyed watching it.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
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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
This is a great, well informed op!! I envy you for being able to write good film ops as I just can't seem to pull it off!! Cheers for this, it sounds great!!
princesssoapy 07.09.2001 15:08
GReat op I thought this was a very strange film, thanks Amanda..
free4susan 05.09.2001 18:35
Hi, I really enjoyed this movie too though I thought it could have been funnier. It's been a few years since I've seen it so I can't remember what exactly disappointed me, but I did leave the cinema thinking there had been something missing. Good op! Bye, Susan.
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...
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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
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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]")
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