Barnes & Noble

The vicissitudes of low-budget, "guerrilla" filmmaking generate many of the laughs in this good-natured lampoon of present-day Hollywood. Steve Martin is at his smarmy best as Bobby Bowfinger, a Tinseltown bottom-feeder desperately trying to make a sci-fi movie on no budget (one of the funniest gags in the film has him recruiting illegal Mexican immigrants on the border as crew members). Unable to hire real actors, Bowfinger tricks big-time action star Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy doing a wonderful satire of himself) into appearing in the film without even realizing he's in it. Working from Martin's clever screenplay, director Frank Oz coaxes not one but two fabulous performances from Murphy, who also plays Ramsey's nerdy lookalike, Jiff -- one of Murphy's most hilarious and endearing roles. Heather Graham is delightfully loopy as an aspiring actress sleeping her way to the top of the Hollywood heap. Out-there in its humor and blatantly silly, Bowfinger nonetheless captures a frustrating reality that struggling filmmakers know all too well. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

A group of wanna-be filmmakers and actors concocts a scheme to make a movie with a major star without having to pay him in this comedy. Bobby Bowfinger (Steve Martin) has struggled for years to make it in Hollywood with no real success; he's convinced that he has to make his big break soon or it will be too late. Bobby has a script, and he has a cast, including an ingenue straight off the bus from Ohio (Heather Graham), a one-time regional stage star who fondly recalls her brief moment of glory (Christine Baranski), and a hunky aspiring matinee idol (Kohl Sudduth). He also has a young associate named Dave (Jamie Kennedy), who has a low-level job at a movie studio as a gofer -- which means that he has keys to every part of the lot and can "borrow" whatever they need. All they need is a star, but without any money, how do they get one? Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy) is a leading action star, and he is obviously beyond Bowfinger's budget. But Bobby has an idea: what if he tricked Kit into appearing in the film without his knowing it? Steve Martin also wrote the film's screenplay, and former Muppets performer Frank Oz directs. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 025192057625
• Source: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby Digital Surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Français
• Time: 1:37:00
• Sales Rank: 3,809

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Nutty Professor 2: Klumps/Bowfinger
• Eddie Murphy Comedy Collection (2 Discs)

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