Like Bill Murray's sole directorial effort, Quick Change, the Steve Martin/Eddie Murphy comedy Bowfinger is one of the best undiscovered comedies of the 1990s. On one level, the movie is one of those inside-baseball movies about the movie business. But unlike most other films of that genre, Bowfinger is never too inside -- or even too clever -- for its own good.
The Story
Which isn't to say the movie isn't clever. The script, written by Martin, tells the story of Bobby Bowfinger, an extremely low-rent Hollywood producer (his cell phone still has a spiral cord attached) who has saved up $2,000 to make a feature. He even gets a promise from a studio head (Robert Downey Jr. in a funny cameo) that he'll get distribution for the movie if he can get superstar Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy, in one of two very funny roles) Ramsey to star. Bowfinger then assembles a cast and crew (including Heather Graham -- showing comic chops not seen before or since -- and comedian Jamie Kennedy) and sets off to make his science-fiction opus with Kit Ramsey. The catch? He's going to shoot scenes with Ramsey without the star even knowing he's in a film. When that plan hits the wall, Bowfinger casts a Kit Ramsey lookalike (Murphy again), uber-nerd Jif, to step in.
Anything for a Laugh
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It all sounds a little high-concept, I know. But credit should go to Martin for keeping everything from becoming too up-its-own-ass (to borrow a phrase from a friend) with how funny it is. Yes, there are the funny jokes about celebrity and Hollywood culture (or trendy religions, if you're willing to read the fictional "Mindhead" as a parody of Scientology); watch as the movie's crew (a group of illegal Mexican immigrants herded into a van) gradually get more and more savvy as the film progresses. But because the screenplay is by Steve Martin, Bowfinger also has an absurdist, anything-for-a-laugh streak. The goofy side of Steve Martin (the one we remember from The Jerk and The Man With Two Brains) rarely comes out in movies anymore, and Bowfinger lets it come out again. It's nice to see it hasn't been lost.
Then there's Eddie Murphy. For the latter half of his career, Murphy has tried to score laughs by donning pounds of latex and playing all of the characters in his "comedies." But here's Bowfinger, in which Murphy comes up with multiple characters who are truly inspired comic creations -- and does so just with performance, not special effects. This is the movie that should have re-energized Murphy's career, not Dreamgirls.
Even though it grossed upwards of $65 million during its theatrical run in 1999, Bowfinger hasn't earned the reputation of being a success. It's not a movie that people will typically reference in discussions of either Martin or Murphy, and that's too bad -- it's the funniest film from either of them in a long time, and one of the rare offerings from either that isn't some toothless family pap (the Cheaper by the Dozen films; Daddy Day Care) or obnoxiously broad (Norbit, Bringing Down the House).
There are so many ways that a Steve Martin/Eddie Murphy pairing could have gone wrong that it's kind of a miracle Bowfinger works so well. Martin's script plays a huge part in that; ditto the go-for-it direction by Frank Oz. Ultimately, though, its the spirit of the whole thing that makes it so good; from the performances to the jokes to the plot itself, you get the feeling that -- like the cast of Bobby Bowfinger's movie -- Martin and Murphy are getting away with something. We're just lucky enough to be a part of it.
Original Release Date: August 13, 1999
