Review of Bowfinger (1999) by Aaron N — 04 Dec 2008
Bowfinger: Did you know that Tom Cruise didn't know he was in that vampire movie until two years later?
I love movies about the making of movies, like Get Shorty, Ed Wood, The Last Shot, and this movie.
Steve Martin wrote this movie about an unsuccessful filmmaker who gets a good script, but with no connections, decides to make the movie, using a big star, without this star knowing he's in the movie.
Dave: But movies cost millions of dollars to make.
Bowfinger: That's after gross net deduction profit percentage deferment ten percent of the nut. Cash, every movie cost $2,184.
Eddie Murphy is this star, in one of his best roles. He plays an egocentric movie star who is also subject to paranoia and depends on a Scientology-like group to help him get by.
Kit: The letter K appears in this script 1,456 times. That's perfectly divisible by 3.
Freddy: So what? So what you saying?
Kit: What am I saying? KKK appears in this script 486 times!
Murphy also plays another one of his best roles in this movie, as the star's brother, Jif, who gets involved in Bowfinger's film.
Bowfinger: Do you have any experience in motion pictures?
Jiff Ramsey: Uh, well, yeah, quite a bit, actually, I have quite a bit of experience. I'm an active, uh, renter at Blockbuster, and I, um, attend the filmed cinema, uh, as much as possible, weekly, bi-weekly, inter-week-... intermediately.
Bowfinger: Would you be willing to cut your hair?
Jiff Ramsey: [sighs] Oh, yes, but, uh, it's usually better if someone else does it. I've had a few... accidents.
This is a very funny movie, that combines a lot of Hollywood satire, with a fun well written story about a bunch of wannabe's trying to make the big time.
Director Frank Oz uses this story, its cast, which also includes supporting performances from Heather Graham, Jaime Kennedy, Christine Baranski, and Terrance Stamp, and the improv skills of both Martin and Murphy to make for a funny movie with many memorable scenes.
Kit Ramsey: Gotcha Suckers!
This review of Bowfinger (1999) was written by Aaron N on 04 Dec 2008.
Bowfinger has generally received positive reviews.
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