Bowfinger Review
by Christian Pyle (tlcclp AT aol DOT com)September 12th, 1999
Bowfinger (1999)
a review by Christian Pyle
Bowfinger
Directed by Frank Oz
Written by Steve Martin
Starring Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Heather Graham, Christine Baranski, Jamie Kennedy, Terence Stamp, Robert Downey Jr.
Official Site: http://www.bowfinger.com/
Grade: B-
Hack director Bobby Bowfinger (Steve Martin) wants to break into feature films. Armed with the script for "Chubby Rain," an alien invasion action pic (the rain is chubby because the aliens invade disguised as raindrops), Bowfinger gets a promise from a major producer (Robert Downey Jr. in a small role) that "Chubby" is a go if Bowfinger can cast the hottest action star in America, Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy). Kit gives him the boot, of course, so Bowfinger hits upon a scheme to have Kit star without knowing it. His crew will follow the guy around, and the other actors will simply walk up to Kit and say their lines. A factor in their favor: Kit is a loon with paranoid fears that aliens are trying to steal his gonads, an obsession with exposing himself to the Laker Girls, and a complete devotion to the Mindhead (read: Scientology) cult.
Bowfinger's merry band includes Christine Baranski as a wannabe actress, Heather Graham as a starlet trying to sleep her way to the top, Jamie Kennedy as a stagehand who can steal all the gear they need from the studio, and Eddie Murphy (again) as a dweeb whose dream is to run errands for people. Less familiar faces include an accountant turned screenwriter (Adam Alexi-Malle), a dense but attractive young actor (Kohl Sudduth), and a crew of illegal aliens who gradually become film buffs.
Martin's script delivers plenty of laughs but little substance. There's none of the insider satire that we saw in his "L. A. Story." Except for the stab at Scientology, Hollywood comes through "Bowfinger" unscathed. Bowfinger is a latter-day Ed Wood and deserves to be marginalized. Outside of Kit, the few successful Hollywood types in the movie are sane, shrewd people.
The script also depends on several big coincidences to hold its bizarre plot together. If Kit Ramsey didn't happen to be a paranoid nutcase, he would have just had Bowfinger and company arrested.
Despite those flaws, I laughed a lot while watching this movie. Martin is, as always, sly and skillful at both verbal and visual humor, and "Bowfinger" marks a return to form for Murphy, who hasn't been this funny since the '80s. As Kit, he loudly rapid-fires bizarre theories (catch phrases are a racist conspiracy, Teddy Kennedy is black); as Jiff, body double and aspiring errand boy, he's shy and easily embarrassed. Jiff is also easily fooled, making him a perfect pawn for the scheming Bowfinger. In the movie's funniest scene, Bowfinger convinces Jiff to run across a busy highway, saying that all the cars are driven by "stunt drivers."
Bottom line: "Bowfinger" is a fluffy diversion with two master comedians at the top of their game.
© 1999 Christian L. Pyle
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