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Bowfinger


by Yoda
posted on 11/26/07
Bowfinger (1999)

"We're trying to make a movie here, not a film!"



Bowfinger is a movie about making movies. Bad ones. Like, really bad.

The film starts with small-time director Bobby Bowfinger (Steve Martin, who also wrote the film) reading a script called "Chubby Rain." The writer explains the title thusly: aliens invade the earth by coming down to earth inside the rain drops, making the rain "chubby." I'm not making this up.

Bowfinger is 49, and is running out of time. Hollywood won't deal with you after you turn 50, he says. "They can smell 50." Out of sheer desperation, he says he'll make "Chubby Rain" and embarks on a ridiculous quest to get megastar Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy) to star in it. His efforts fail, of course, but he can't break the news to his patchwork cast and crew.

To reconcile his dreams with his reality and keep the production afloat, Bowfinger decides to follow Ramsey around and film him secretly. The film, he decides, isn't really going to be any worse on account of a little thing like its star not saying any of his scripted lines. He sells this to his cast as some sort of branch of method acting, helped along by the fact that none of them are terribly bright. He doesn't have much money, even for such a sparse production, but deludes himself into thinking he does:
Bowfinger


"It's enough to get us started: $2,184."
"But movies cost millions of dollars to make."
"That's after gross...net deduction profit percentage deferment...ten percent of the nut....CASH, every movie costs $2,184."



Sound implausible? It is, a bit. But it's helped along by the fact that Murphy's character is basically insane. Like many Eddie Murphy characters, his dialogue comes fast and furious, and he's highly temperamental. He also belongs to a bizarre cult called "MindHead," presumably a jab at Scientology. The members wear pyramid-shaped hats and walk around what looks like a dot-com gardenesque office while a woman's voice repeats "Welcome to MindHead" over and over, with a different inflection each time. "Welcome to MindHead. Welcome to MindHead."

Ramsey, you see, is kind of screwed up in the head. He believes, among other things, that aliens are trying to get him. This fits rather conveniently with the film Bowfinger is secretly trying to film him in, but it's best not to scrutinize such plot details too closely.

The sequences involving Ramsey's affiliation with MindHead are rather bizarre, but always hysterical, especially his coaching sessions with one of the MindHead gurus, who tries to talk him down from his anxiousness by repeating "Happy Premises."

"Guru: Happy premise #1.
Kit: Happy premise #1. There are no aliens.
Guru: Happy premise #2.
Kit: Happy premise #2: There is no giant foot trying to squash me.
Guru: Happy premise #3.
Kit: Happy premise #3: Even though I feel like I might ignite...I probably won't."

Sound odd? It is. But Murphy throws himself into the weirdness and pulls it off. And, being that it's Eddie Murphy we're talking about, it's probably in his contract that he has to play at least one other character. In this case, it's Jiff, who Bowfinger finds while trying to round up Ramsey look-a-likes. Jiff works a menial job and can't really fathom being in a movie. "Getting a job running errands would be a major boost for me," he says during the interview process. His hairstyle is a bit different, though, which presents a problem. Bowfinger asks: "Would you be willing to cut your hair?" Jiff is hesitant "Well...yes. But it would probably be better if someone else did it. I've had a few...accidents."



Overall, the craziness works through its sheer ambition, and because everyone involved sells the living daylights out of it. The film's strength is largely in its ridiculous dialogue, though, which never really lets up. What's stunning is not the number of jokes, but how many of them actually land. Shotgun comedy usually means lots of bad puns and a very low joke-to-laugh rate, but Bowfinger is a notable exception.

"Oh I love the Flintstones too, that's so good, do you like that? Now, okay, do you like walks in the park?"
"In the rain!"
"Oh God, you know what, I want you to see the Music Man, because..."
"Isn't Robert Preston good?"
"He's so good! Do you LOVE Smashing Pumpkins?"
"Are you kidding? I love to do that!"

The film's resolution is not especially important, but things do eventually weave together in a way that, if not exactly likely, is at least consistent with the insanity that's come before it. Martin is surprisingly quick and energetic as the titular Bowfinger, and Murphy plays the movie star caricature of Ramsey extremely well. He does a surprisingly good job as the low-key Jiff, too, even though none of the characters are quite real.

I loved this film, but I don't have any trouble imagining someone disliking it. It's odd, and downright surreal at times. You've got to have an inherent affection towards zaniness for its own sake to enjoy Bowfinger, but if you do, you'll get to enjoy a film that's both witty and crazy, and, if nothing else, truly unpredictable.