Bowfinger (1999)

When a desperate movie producer fails to get a major star for his bargain basement film, he decides to shoot the film secretly around him.

Director:

Frank Oz

Writer:

Steve Martin

Stars:

Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Heather Graham

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Martin	...	Bowfinger
Eddie Murphy	...	Kit Ramsey / Jiff Ramsey
Heather Graham	...	Daisy
Christine Baranski	...	Carol
Jamie Kennedy	...	Dave
Barry Newman	...	Kit's Agent
Adam Alexi-Malle	...	Afrim
Kohl Sudduth	...	Slater
Terence Stamp	...	Terry Stricter
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Jerry Renfro
Alejandro Patiño	...	Sanchez (as Alejandro Patino)
Alfred De Contreras	...	Martinez
Ramiro Fabian	...	Hector
Johnny Sanchez	...	Luis
Claude Brooks	...	Freddy

Storyline

Forty-nine year old Bobby Bowfinger is the owner/president of a Hollywood-based production company, Bowfinger International Pictures. The company has yet to produce a film, Bobby's personal net worth is virtually zero, and the company only has $2,184 to its name, $1 invested into it personally by Bobby every week since he first decided he wanted to make a movie when he was a child. Bobby believes his fortunes will change when his accountant Afrim changes hats and writes a science-fiction alien invasion screenplay that Bobby thinks all studios will clamor for and has Oscar written all over it. He has a small stable of followers who support his vision in being part of this movie, which eventually includes Daisy as the lead actress, she a stereotypical small town girl looking to make it big in Hollywood. Having just arrived in town, she does not know her way around the Hollywood system,... except on her proverbial back. Bobby is not averse to telling bald-faced lies in his singular focus...

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Plot Keywords:

guerrilla filmmaking | film within a film | satire | scientology parody | filmmaking | 

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Taglines:

The con is on.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sex-related material and language

Details

Official Sites:

Universal

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 August 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bowfinger's Big Thing

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,062,550, 15 August 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$66,384,775

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$98,625,775

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 85 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Eastman Color) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was Eddie Murphy's idea for Jiff Ramsey to wear braces, and have his ears stick out, and he insisted on not wearing prosthetics make-up when it came to filming his scenes as Jiff.

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Goofs

When reviewing a script with his agent at the beginning of the movie, Kit says that the letter K appears 1,456 times in the script, which is perfectly divisible by 3, meaning that KKK appears 486 times. 1,456 is not exactly divisible by 3. 1,458, however, is, and gives the stated division result of 486.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Robert K. Bowfinger: Wow. Great script. Great script!
[to his dog]
Robert K. Bowfinger: Betsy? It's now or never. We are gonna make a movie.

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Crazy Credits

After the last credits roll, Kit's line, "I saved the world! I saved it," can be heard.

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Alternate Versions

DVD "deleted scenes" section contains a much longer version of the "this script, this masterpiece" scene which in a Martin monologue explains why an accountant would write a sci-fi script. His first script, about the exciting world of accounting, was rejected in favor of something that at least has aliens in it. The title is "Star Wars," but that will have to be changed. Another scene features the most avant-garde dry-cleaning place you'll ever see, explaining better the "Kit's dry cleaning" material later on.

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Connections

Referenced in Yes Man (2008)

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Soundtracks

Super Smooth
Written by Emanuel Kallins (as E. Callins), Chieli Minucci (as C. Minucci)
Performed Emanuel Kallins (as E. Callins), Chieli Minucci (as C. Minucci)
Courtesy of Firstcom Music
By Arrangement with Zomba Screen Music

User Reviews

A Tiny Peek at how good Steve Martin Movies can be

Steve Martin has made some fine comedy movies - 'The Man with two Brains' 'All of Me' 'Dirty Rotten Scoudrels' and 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' to name just few. He has also made some wonderfully touching movies like 'A Simple Twist of Fate' where his acting ability really shows through. Unfortunately he does have a knack of making too many films that are merely mediocre or worse; films like 'Mixed Nuts' 'Sgt. Bilko' 'Bringing down the House' and 'Cheaper by the Dozen'

I am pleased to say that Bowfinger shows us Steve Martin close to his best; he plays the lead role and he also wrote this totally crazy, unbelievable and madcap comedy; and it is genuinely funny for all the right reasons. It is cleverly written and has a really interesting storyline. I thought it was brilliant fun, and well worth watching.

Steve Martin Fans will love this one 7/10