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Review by Susan Granger
3½ stars out of 4
Are you in the mood to laugh? 'Cause you gotta be when you see this
spoof of the movie industry in which Steve Martin plays Robert "Bobby"
Bowfinger, a down-and-out director who's crazy about a script, "Chubby
Rain," about tiny aliens who ride raindrops down to Earth. Problem is:
the only way to get the movie made is to get a bankable A-list star -
which he cannot afford. Illustrating his frustration, there's a hilarious
scene in which Robert Downey Jr. is a prominent producer, "a player,"
whom he spots at a restaurant. So Bowfinger decides to stalk TinselTown's
hottest actor, Kit Ramsey - that's Eddie Murphy, and surreptitiously
capture him on celluloid, editing the surreptitious footage into his
low-budget ($2,814) movie. The angry, already paranoid Ramsey goes nuts
when he finds himself interacting with Christine Baranski and other
actors from "Rain" who accost him, reciting their lines. Seeking
tranquillity, Ramsey retreats to a posh haven called MindHead, run by
manipulative Terence Stamp. Is this a riff on certain stars' devotion
to Scientology? When he was writing the screenplay, Steve Martin originally
envisioned a wimpy, spiritual actor, "a Keanu Reeves type," but adapted
him into a black action star with Murphy's help. Directed by Frank Oz,
Martin's elegant goofiness blends with Murphy's hip cynicism and the
result is a deliriously outrageous combination. Plus, Murphy plays another
role as his nerdy stunt double/errandboy. And, if you think Heather
Graham's ambitious ingenue-who-runs-off-with-a-lesbian role resembles
Anne Heche, you're not alone. Martin dated Heche for several years before
she jilted him for Ellen DeGeneres. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to
10, "Bowfinger" is an amusing, inventive, entertaining 8. It's a funny,
funny satire that skewers Hollywood.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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