Bowfinger (1999)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Frank Oz

Writer (WGA):

Steve Martin (written by)

Release Date:

13 August 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A desperate plan for a desperate man

Plot:

When a desperate movie producer fails to get a major star for his bargain basement film, he decides to shoot the film secretly around him.

Plot Keywords:

Hollywood | Brother | Movie Producer | Actor | Film Within A Film

Awards:

6 nominations

Cast

Steve Martin	...	Bobby Bowfinger
Eddie Murphy	...	Kit Ramsey / Jeffernson 'Jiff' Ramsey
Heather Graham	...	Daisy
Christine Baranski	...	Carol
Jamie Kennedy	...	Dave
Adam Alexi-Malle	...	Afrim
Kohl Sudduth	...	Slater
Barry Newman	...	Hal, Kit's Agent
Terence Stamp	...	Terry Stricter
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Jerry Renfro
Alejandro Patino	...	Sanchez
Alfred De Contreras	...	Martinez
Ramiro Fabian	...	Hector
Johnny Sanchez	...	Luis
Claude Brooks	...	Freddy

Also Known As:

Bowfinger's Big Thing (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sex-related material and language.

Runtime:

97 min | Turkey:85 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Malaysia:U | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-8 | France:U | Germany:6 (w) | Iceland:L | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:M | Norway:A | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #36611) | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

380 South San Rafael Avenue, Pasadena, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Director Frank Oz encouraged improvisation during select scenes, and occasionally the result wound up in the film. Some instances of this are Robert Downey Jr. saying "and all this" while flipping through the script of Chubby Rain, Eddie Murphy asking his manager to find him a retarded slave role so he can win an Academy Award, and Steve Martin saying, "It could've worked" after Chubby Rain was shut down.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When reviewing a script with his agent at the beginning of the movie, Kit says that the letter K appears 1,456 times in the script, which is perfectly divisible by 3, meaning that KKK appears 486 times. 1,456 is not exactly divisible by 3.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Robert K. Bowfinger: Wow. Great script. Great script!
[to his dog]
Robert K. Bowfinger: Betsy? It's now or never. We are gonna make a movie.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Blood & Guts (2006)

Soundtrack:

Super Bad, Super Slick

The con worked for me

Bowfinger How does Bobby Bowfinger, Hollywood's least successful director, get Kit Ramsey, Hollywood's biggest star, in his ultra low-budget film? Anyway he can. With an ingenious scheme and the help of Kit's eager and nerdy brother, Jiff, an ambitious and sexy wanna be actress and over-the-hill diva. Bowfinger sets out to trick Kit Ramsey into the performance of a lifetime.

To describe Bowfinger, it is a stupid idiotic film, which works. I thought it was terrific. Steve Martin (who wrote the film) plays the part of a hopeless director perfectly. While the other main star Eddie Murphy, again pulls off another great double as both Kit and Jiff Ramsey. Is there an end to this guys talent? i look forward to seeing Nutty Professor 2 soon. Heather Graham was again at her sexy best as Daisy. The other stand out actor for me in this film was Terrence Stamp. Can you remember him from Superman 2? That's right he was General Zod and in Bowfinger he is Terry Stricter, Kit's Councillor. His role was also well done. A final mention to one star, but with four legs, Mindy (aka Betsy) who was used perfectly. Animals who star on any movie or TV show have a special talent, this dog is no exception. Bowfinger is also a movie within a movie, which at any time must be hard to shoot, but thanks to Aussie director Frank Oz, Bowfinger comes out beautifully. Bowfinger Scores 3.5/5 Stars or 7/10. If you want a laugh see this wild, funny comedy!