BOWFINGER – 1999
Directed by Frank Oz
Starring Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Heather Graham, Christine Baranski, Jamie Kennedy, Barry Newman, Adam Alexi-Malle, Kohl Sudduth, Terence Stamp, Alejandro Patino, Alfred De Contreras, Ramiro Fabian, Johnny Sanchez, Claude Brooks, and Robert Downey Jr.
Genre: Satirical Comedy
Kit Ramsey, a spoiled, paranoid movie star played by Eddie Murphy, goes to his local chapter of "Mindhead" and visits with the head guru played very earnestly by Terrance Stamp...surrounded by New Age music and fellow members all sporting pointy paper hats, he's asked by his guru the thoughts which are most infecting his mind and Eddie/Kit all flustered and sweaty in his most JFK-like accent declares, "As I stand here before you today...the Lakers cheerleader squad NEEDS..to be brought down a peg or two." Now if that kind of absurdist humor makes you chuckle, then this is the comedy for you. :)
And back in '99 - years before making fun of Scientologists became mainstream - this film felt like a minor miracle. You had two comedy legends - Eddie and Steve - collaborating for the first time since their days on SNL who had been mired in mostly crap sequels for the past several years and it was (and still is) glorious to see them bring their A-games to such a goofy, weird, and highly satirical comedy about Hollywood.
Now this is not exactly The Player - there's loads of physical humor and unlike that film, there's actually a sweetness underneath. But make no mistake for a PG-13 comedy, this film pokes fun at a TON of sensitive stuff including sexual harassment, racism, xenophobia, and sexism. But director Frank Oz makes it all work very delicately in the service of a very clever premise created by writer Steve Martin - if you look at Martin's filmography, almost all of his best comedies are written by himself and this is no exception.
The premise is seemingly simple: What if a filmmaker was determined to make a movie with a famous star who was unaware...and how far would he go to make that happen? 🤔 Martin plays the filmmaker, Murphy plays the star, Murphy (who is FANTASTIC in dual roles) plays the star's much nerdier look-alike to help them film it...throw in Jamie Kennedy in an unusually deadpan (which works for him) sidekick role, Christine Baranski as a put-upon ACTRESS who only cares about "The Craft," and Heather Graham as a seemingly naive farm girl who recently relocated to LA with dreams of becoming a star and evolves into the Smartest Ingenue in the Room...and what results is one of the funniest films of the '90's.
Best Needle drop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film):
The closing sequence of this movie is just UTTERLY ridiculous in the most delightful way. It could even be borderline-racist if it wasn’t so damn playful and silly…and it has a pitch-perfect albeit somewhat overused needle-drop to help sell it. Basically….the entire Bowfinger Production company – cast and crew – has gotten the triumphant opportunity they’ve been yearning for…..to film a C-grade action movie in Taiwan titled “Fake Purse Ninjas.” I’m guessing that what we’re seeing here is the filmed climax for it…..chock full of cheaply edited fake stunts and poorly dubbed sound effects. The first half of this sequence is Eddie’s Jif in over-sized kung fu garb coming in to rescue a damsel in distress while kicking ass…all to the tune of Johnny River’s iconic TV theme from the early ‘60’s, “Secret Agent Man.” Fun stuff…but this isn’t the needle-drop I was thinking of….(Audio clip)
So once Jif’s hero has made his way deep into this villain’s lair/fake purse factory…..he then encounters his “brother” played by Steve Martin’s Bowfinger clad in the same garb. They lock hands, join forces, and then are suddenly SURROUNDED by an evil army of ninjas lead by Baranski’s main villainess…..what follows are even more ridiculous stunts, more absurd sound effects, and…..a truly joyous remix of the kitchy 1974 disco classic “Kung Fu Fighting” from Carl Douglas. It’s both a hysterical and strangely triumphant way to close out this movie as we see both Murphy and Martin running in slow motion towards the camera with this very lively remix playing overhead. (Audio clip)
Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):
His talent wasn’t really wasted here but I just wanted to give a shout-out to the MAIN man behind the camera….a pretty singular directorial talent who has mostly specialized in comedy, has helmed several gems, and…..more often than not made it look deceptively easy almost never receiving any of the credit. I’m of course referring to Frank Richard Oznowicz born in England, mostly raised in California…..otherwise known as Frank Oz. (Audio clip)
To describe his career trajectory as unique is kind of an understatement – he first made a name for himself as a puppeteer also providing voices for puppets in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s…..Kermit from The Muppets, Yoda from the Star Wars saga….yup that was ALL him. But eventually he parlayed that into directing TV shows and feature films STARRING these types of characters in the ‘80’s…..The Dark Crystal, The Muppets Take Manhattan and Little Shop of Horrors. (Audio clip)
Now of course these films would eventually be lead by more on-screen human talent…..often BIG comedians like Bill Murray or Steve Martin. And it’s in ’88 when Oz evolved into becoming a director exclusively of grown-up comedic talent with the delightful Dirty Rotten Scoundrels which kicked off a pretty strong run of feature comedies over the next decade including What About Bob, Housesitter, In & Out, and this which I believe remains his funniest film. His post-99 output hasn’t been QUITE as strong but he DID also direct the pretty underrated heist thriller The Score in 2001 starring Robert DeNiro, Edward Norton, and Marlon Brando. Seriously you just look back at some of the outsized egos this guy has been able to still pull good performances out of as a director….Bill Murray, Richard Dreyfuss, Norton, Eddie, AND Brando?? Frank Oz legacy as one of THE stronger actor’s directors is assured.
Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):
Among SO many standout comedic highlights, there is one sequence about halfway through this film which treads a VERY thin line between COMEDY and CRUELTY. Honestly I just don’t think it would nearly as well with different actors besides Eddie and Steve who know JUST how to play it from a tonal standpoint. This basically entails the filming of one particularly harrowing action sequence within the fictional movie, “Chubby Rain” – it involves the main protagonist played by Murphy’s Jif PRETENDING to be Kit Ramsey…..crossing a highway. (Audio clip)
Not only is it SO well-sold by the intense sound design but the physical comedy done by Murphy during this scene is next-level – he COMPLETELY sells the confusion and horror of his character to spectacular comic effect. It’s the kind of sequence where you can’t help but laugh but you might even feel a BIT guilty for laughing. And the cherry on top? The brutal capper to this scene with a great throw-away line from Martin…(Audio clip)
MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):
Undoubtedly there’s a lot of sterling talent in front of and behind the camera here, including the aforementioned Frank Oz who directed this. But at the end of the day, this film works as well as it does thanks to the generational comedic talents of two individuals: one of them not only delivers a pitch-perfect lead acid performance but wrote this film’s brilliant screenplay….the other convincingly played two STARKLY different characters without the benefit of make-up or prosthetics, providing not only this story’s heart but also its biggest target for satire in the process. Yup this was a no-brainer: Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy are your CO-MVP’s. (Audio clip)
Final Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Happy 25th Anniversary to one of the more underrated star-driven comedies of the ‘90’s and of course one of THE best Hollywood satires of all time!
Streaming on Starz
And that ends another GROSS NET DEDUCTION PROFIT PERCENTAGE DEFERRMENT, TEN PERCENT OF THE NUT review!
