The late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live has, for better or worse, changed the way funny movies are made. Ever since the success of Wayne's World, sketch comedy actors have endeavored to develop distinctive characters and then build a movie around the character, regardless of whether there's any story. The assumption is that if you have a comic character, the script will take care of itself. This approach has given us film classics like Tommy Boy, Coneheads, and A Night at the Roxbury.
Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy, who both got their big break in the relatively early days of SNL, have rarely operated that way. They instead have created or sought out funny scripts and then conceive memorable characters that fit those stories. Think of fabulous comedies like Parenthood, Beverly Hills Cop, and the great '70s movie All of Me. Martin and Murphy's latest venture, Bowfinger, isn't quite in the same class, but it follows that pattern. Create a good story, and the characters will take care of themselves.
The premise for Bowfinger is fabulous. Steve Martin is Bowfinger, a small-time and somewhat sleazy movie producer who's promised his loyal lackeys that they're going to make a picture together. All he has is a B-movie script about aliens called Chubby Rain and $2,000. But if he can get big-budget action star Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy) to sign on, there'll be money for everyone. Now Ramsey might not be the brightest bulb in Hollywood (he has an obsession with both aliens and the Laker Girls), but even he can tell that Chubby Rain is awful. That doesn't dissuade Bowfinger, who can't bring himself to admit there's no movie. Instead, he tells his actors and crew that Ramsey has agreed to do the picture but only under certain conditions: Ramsey doesn't want to rehearse, the camera has to be hidden, and there'll only be one take per scene. In other words, Bowfinger will shoot the movie with Kit Ramsey without Ramsey realizing he's in it.
The best parts of Bowfinger, besides a wonderful early rant by Murphy, are the scenes where the Chubby Rain cast interacts with a befuddled and increasingly paranoid Ramsey. These moments are both over-the-top and genuinely funny. One particularly fine shot occurs when Bowfinger is chasing Ramsey down the expressway with his camera hidden in a camouflage of foliage.
Eddie Murphy is especially good in this film. While his action star persona isn't far from other bigger-than-life figures he's played, his second role (as Kit Ramsey's geeky brother Jiff) is even stronger. This subdued, even subtle, character is surprisingly effective and charming, without sacrificing any humor. When Bowfinger asks, "Would you be willing to cut your hair" to get a part in the movie, Jiff responds with perfect timing: "Yeah...but it's better if someone else does it."
The supporting cast does its part as well. Heather Graham (Austin Powers 2, Boogie Nights), as Daisy, has a nice turn as a would-be actress from Ohio who quickly learns how the game is played. And Adam Alexi-Malle makes his movie debut as a naive scriptwriter/accountant who's so excited his movie's getting made.
Not everything in Bowfinger works. At times, the plot seems to get in the way of the comedy. And there are a number of times when it felt like the movie was playing it safe when a little more punch could've made it even funnier. A good example is Mindhead, a therapeutic center that Kit frequents to control his paranoia. A not-so-subtle parody of Scientology, this complex where people wear funny hats and talk in soft voices could've been hilarious but instead Martin (who wrote the movie) and director Frank Oz (In & Out, What About Bob?) skirt the possibilities without ever diving in.
In the end, though, Bowfinger has a smart plot with lots of laughs. The ending is more than a little contrived but, by that time, the movie has built up enough good will that I was willing to accept almost anything. Bowfinger isn't the funniest movie of the year or even of the summer; but it's a sweet comedy that both tells a good story and makes you chuckle. In this SNL world, that's worth something.
J. Robert Parks
What if you were desperate enough to make a movie that you shot it with a star you couldn't afford when he didn't even know he was being filmed? That's exactly what happens in Bowfinger. Steve Martin plays the title character, a duplicitous would-be movie director who slinks on his underbelly to get his abominably bad sci-fi action film Chubby Rain made. Martin may be starring in the film he also wrote, but it is his old SNL-pal Eddie Murphy who steals the show in dual roles. Whether playing the paranoid action movie star Kit Ramsey, or his innocent, bumbling look-a-like Jiff, Murphy's superb comic talent and timing reminds us why we used to go see his pictures. He's rarely been as completely in-character and clever than he appears here, which does much to restore his crown as a King of Comedy.
The movie itself is wonderfully witty with Hollywood in-jokes abounding, but the basic premise promises more than the film actually delivers. Many interesting tangents and characters are introduced and discarded or underutilized, and you must willingly suspend belief to buy into any of these crazy cahoots. Whereas I laughed out loud on numerous occasions, the audience I shared the screening with did not seem to be having quite as good a time. It's almost as if some of the humor and film-parody references passed them by. (Maybe. Maybe not.) Regardless, when Murphy was having his moments, the audience roared with glee. An underlining worldview that encourages deception and theft to reach one's goals is astoundingly depressing under scrutiny, but the movie will have you rooting for this gawky group of losers all the same.
Steven S. Baldwin 9/6/99
