| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | Bowfinger (1999) |
| Director | Frank Oz |
| Writer | Steve Martin |
| Lead Actor | Steve Martin |
| Cast | Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Heather Graham, Christine Baranski, Terence Stamp |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Release Date | August 20, 1999 (United States) |
| Duration | 1h 50m |
| Budget | $55 million |
| Language | English |
| IMDb Rating | 6.5/10 |
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Steve Martin satirizes Hollywood in broad strokes, starring in his own script as Bowfinger, a comically desperate, never made it director who’s reaching 50 and figures his time has come. He feels he has the makings of a great alien movie (the screenplay is penned by his Iranian accountant) but needs a star to get backing.
He can’t persuade a noted egotistical action hero (Eddie Murphy) even to consider it. Thus, he gathers an oddball crew of movie wannabes who set up the paranoid Murphy in various situations around the city and edit him into the movie without his knowledge.
The idea has mirthful potential, even without the inherent movie-land spoofery the predictable crass ambition and egomania, Bowfinger’s outrageous use of status symbols from convertibles to ponytails. The novice leading lady (Heather Graham) goes from apparent innocence to seduction of everyone in the system while making the movie.
All the characters are a little crazy except Murphy, who is worse an easily alarmed basket case. (Murphy also plays a shy, endearing goof in the film.) Most of what happens is silly or dropped in just for the heck of it.
Tolerating that, there are a few payoffs a scary funny scene where the bashful Murphy has to run across a busy freeway a touching moment when the cast and crew watch in awe as their dream of being on the big screen actually comes true. (On some level the characters have shown their humanity and vulnerability.) The true subject is the American passion for movies and its descent into madness.
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