Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
Bowfinger (1999)
Director: Frank Oz
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Martin reminds us why he was once considered the funniest white man in America with this silly, savvy satire on Hollywood's lunatic fringe. He's Bobby Bowfinger, a producer/director with no credits and no credit. Even the self-deluded BB knows it's now or never time when his accountant gifts him a screenplay, the alien invasion story 'Chubby Rain'. Bobby rounds up the best cast and crew $2,100 can buy, and convinces them he's landed action superstar Kit Ramsey (Murphy) for the lead. His conceit has an oblivious Ramsey re-acting for hidden cameras in a vérité action movie. 'Cinéma nouveau', Bobby calls it. Directed by Frank Oz from Martin's own laugh out loud script, this endows showbiz stereotypes with a hardbitten narcissism that doesn't preclude a certain innocence. The supporting turns are generous by any standards, with Murphy near his best (he doubles as his own stand-in), and Graham having a ball as the world's worst actress. Preposterous and utterly self-absorbed, this has la-la land down to a tee.Author: TCh
Cast & crew
Director: Frank Oz
Producer: Brian Grazer
Cast: Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Heather Graham, Christine Baranski, Jamie Kennedy, Barry Newman, Adam Alexi-Malle, Kohl Sudduth, Terence Stamp, Robert Downey Jr full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Duration: 97 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
To the letter
Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.
Mind over matter
David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.
Fool's gold
Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.
We are the championed
Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."
A history of violence
Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.
True romantic
James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.
Playing in the dark
MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.
Junk bonds
Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.
What do you think?
Post your review now