Review of Bowfinger (1999) by Eric J — 19 May 2009

RATING (0 to ****): ****.

In 1999, aspiring filmmakers were extremely fortunate in that they got not one, but three films that seemed made specially for them. The first was "The Blair Witch Project", a film shot for absolutely nothing on both black-and-white celluloid and consumer camcorders, which inspired even those who hated it that there was no excuse to not make a movie. The second was the excellent documentary "American Movie", one of 1999's very best films, which showed a real-life filmmaker being able to survive and complete something despite having every reason in his dysfunctional life not to.

The third was the Frank Oz-directed and Steve Martin-scripted "Bowfinger", which did earn some good notices but was very easy to overlook as just another crude PG-13 comedy that any group of 10-year-olds could rent and enjoy every bawdy minute of (wanna guess how old I was when I first saw it?).

I assure you the film is enjoyable for any age group, and the biggest surprise in watching it again a decade later is just how sweet-spirited it is. Get a look at the attention the dog gets in the opening credits, and you'll get a good idea as to how the humans are treated.

While also delivering on the raunchy humor, Martin's script is thoroughly smart and so it's just hilarious instead of cheap. If you're not an aspiring filmmaker, you'll still have a lot of fun with Bobby Bowfinger as he and his crew sneak big movie star who is so totally not a Scientologist Kim Ramsey into their alien movie.

[font=Microsoft Sans Serif]("Did you know that Tom Cruise didn't know he was in that vampire movie until three months later?")[/font].

This, however, is where the four-star rating primarily comes in. Anyone who's ever made a film will undoubtedly love "Bowfinger"... and if you've seen it before and then made a movie, try remembering scenes and fail to resist renting it again. Rooting for Bobby becomes all the more easier and it even gets difficult to watch at points.

No, not the on-set conflict; although material like David O. Russell and the even better known Christian Bale rants are actually typical filmmaking business, "Bowfinger" never comes close to letting that happen since they're too busy trying to steal shots of Kit (my favorite, and I'm willing to guess yours, is some parking lot high heels). Rather, it's when you know that Bowfinger's scheme has to fail at some point, that it becomes personal. For filmmakers, you [b]are[/b] Bobby Bowfinger. You're certain to laugh until you can't sit up straight then laugh some more, you might even cry, and you'll definitely cheer.

For those who aren't filmmakers, Bobby Bowfinger has a good piece of advice should you ever hop on board: all the millions of dollars you see in the movie business is just gross points and mark-ups. Every movie costs, in cash, $2,184.00.

MPAA: PG-13 (sex-related material and language).

Runtime: 1 hour, 37 minutes (92 minutes of "real movie").