Bowfinger (1999)

Directed by Frank Oz. Starring Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Heather Graham, Christine Baranski, Terence Stamp, Kohl Sudduth, Adam Alexi-Malle, Jamie Kennedy, Barry Newman, Claude Brooks, Robert Downey Jr. [PG-13]

Martin plays Bobby Bowfinger, an unscrupulous, desperate movie producer on the fringes whose latest project—a goofy sci-fi story called Chubby Rain—needs star power to sell, so he decides to “shoot around” action movie star Kit Ramsey (Murphy) in his day-to-day life without the actor being aware of what’s going on. Martin also penned this very funny “soft satire” of Hollywood, which has a bevy of knowing jabs in a similar vein to his 1991 film, L.A. Story—e.g.,neuroticRamsey belongs to a religious cult called MindHead that’s a thinly-veiled stand-in for Scientology and New Age jabber crowds—but also has a certain measure of affection for these deluded oddballs (much like Tim Burton did with Ed Wood). Plus, character and comedic performance both rise above the meandering travails of the storyline, which includes Murphy in a second role as an amiable and slow-witted lookalike named Jiff (a wonderful comic creation who says things like, “Oh, gosh, I’m really hoping to get a career running errands, that’d be a major boost for me”) and Graham as arguably the most savvy of Bowfinger’s hangers-on despite being a Midwestern girl “fresh off the bus.” The first really good comedy vehicle either lead actor has had in years, and refreshingly good-natured, if not the least bit credible. Fourth and final (to date) feature film collaboration between Martin and director Oz.

81/100