Bowfinger (1999)

NEUTRAL

Various

75%

PG-13

1999, Comedy, 1h 37m

RT Critics’ Score: 81% (UNBIASED)
RT Audience Score: 61%
Awards & Nominations: 6 nominations

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Critics Consensus

A witty commentary on modern film-making, with enough jokes to keep it entertaining throughout

Audience Consensus

Bowfinger is a hilarious movie that pokes fun at the absurdity of Hollywood and the lengths people will go to make it big. Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy are a dynamic duo, with Martin playing the delusional director and Murphy playing two roles with ease. The supporting cast is also fantastic, with standout performances from Heather Graham and Christine Baranski. While the plot may be thin, the jokes are non-stop and the satire is spot-on. It’s a must-watch for anyone who loves a good laugh and a behind-the-scenes look at the movie industry.

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 in getting the picture made and distributed all on this $2,184 as a starting point. It is using several of those lies that he is able to get a verbal confirmation from big studio executive Jerry Renfro to distribute the movie *if* it stars Kit Ramsey, arguably the biggest action star in the world. Using similar lies, Bobby, however, is unable to convince Kit to star in the movie. Kit, who has a weakness for the Laker Girls, is a self-absorbed and paranoid movie star whose life and thus career is largely directed behind the scenes by Terry Stricter, the head of a new age religion called MindHead. Bobby comes up with a scheme that he believes will get around Kit not agreeing to star: film Kit without him knowing that he is being filmed. The only person who knows of the scheme is Dave, Bobby’s lowest of low level inside man turned cinematographer who has unofficial (i.e. technically stolen and thus free) access to studio camera equipment and general knowledge of Kit’s general day-to-day movements through the studio system. Bobby is able to convince all the other actors that Kit’s acting process involves him not interacting with them outside of filming the specific scenes he has with them. Part of Bobby’s scheme involves using Kit’s general paranoia that aliens truly are invading the planet to get his gut reactions to what is happening within the context of the script. But Bobby knows he has to get Kit to scream the closing lines of the movie “gotcha suckas” for the movie to be a success. Complications ensue when another of the the actors, Carol, tries to go against Bobby’s policy of not making contact with Kit outside of filming, and when Bobby is required to hire a production assistant cum stunt double cum acting double, whose job in part is to stand-in for the requisite Kit Ramsey naked ass shot. Through it all, Bobby will know if he has made it in Hollywood if he gets a specific sign specifically from the heavens in the form of FedEx.

Production Company(ies)
Canal+ Ciné+ El Deseo

Distributor
Filmes Lusomundo, MCA/Universal Pictures [us], United International Pictures, CIC-Taft Home Video, Argentina Video Home

Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical

Filming Location(s)
1621 Vista Del Mar Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for sex-related material and language

Year of Release
1999

Technical Specs

Color:

Color
Sound mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS
Aspect ratio:

1.85 : 1
Runtime:

1h 37m
Language(s):

English
Country of origin:

United States
Release date:

Release Date (Theaters): Aug 13, 1999 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 22, 2006

Genre(s)
Comedy

Keyword(s)
BOWFINGER, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Heather Graham, Christine Baranski, Jamie Kennedy, Adam Alexi-Malle, Frank Oz, Brian Grazer, written by Steve Martin, comedy, PG-13, box office, budget, reviewed by Nell Minow, Richard Schickel, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Bob Graham, Rick Groen, Charles Taylor, Alex Behan, Leigh Paatsch, David Nusair, Sean Axmaker, Mark Morris, Rob Gonsalves, satire, Hollywood, filmmaking, movie industry, film studio, ragtag team, ingenue, has-been diva, film gofer, blockbuster, star, Kit Ramsey, sci-fi, documentary, permits, love of film, scams, law-breaking, parodies, running gags, music, guilty pleasure

Box Office Details

Worldwide gross: $98,625,775
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $177,036,016
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 764
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 19,306,000

US/Canada gross: $66,384,775
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $119,162,522
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 635
US/Canada opening weekend: $18,062,550
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $32,422,781
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 406

Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $55,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $98,726,534
Production budget ranking: 412
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $53,164,238
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $25,145,244
ROI to date (est.): 17%
ROI ranking: 1,310

Cast & Crew

Steve Martin

Eddie Murphy

Heather Graham

Christine Baranski

Jamie Kennedy

Bobby Bowfinger

Kit Ramsey

Jiffernson ‘Jiff’ Ramsey

Daisy

Carol

Steve Martin – Bobby Bowfinger
Eddie Murphy – Kit Ramsey, Jiffernson ‘Jiff’ Ramsey
Heather Graham – Daisy
Christine Baranski – Carol
Jamie Kennedy – Dave
Adam Alexi-Malle – Afrim

Frank Oz

Steve Martin

Brian Grazer

Director

Writer

Producer

Director(s)
Frank Oz

Writer(s)
Steve Martin

Producer(s)
Brian Grazer

Film Festivals

Awards & Nominations
6 nominations

Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Nell Minow

Richard Schickel

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Bob Graham

Rick Groen

Common Sense Media

TIME Magazine

Chicago Reader

San Francisco Chronicle

Globe and Mail

BOWFINGER
All Critics (111) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (90) | Rotten (21)
Entertaining, great actors but not a home run.

December 22, 2010 | Rating: 3/5

Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
TOP CRITIC
The best thing about Bowfinger is the way the script by Steve Martin is tooled to his own and Murphy’s comic strengths.

February 2, 2009

Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
This is enjoyable but thin, which is no doubt what was intended.

February 27, 2008

Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Martin the writer plants some wicked barbs in Hollywood’s rear end about creative financing of movies and hoarding of profits, the art of the deal, hipper-than-thou attitudes and exploitation.

June 18, 2002 | Rating: 3/4

Bob Graham
San Francisco Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
This is his first screenplay since L.A. Story, yet you get the sense that Martin has lost some of the artistic aspiration he once brought to the movie business. This effort feels like it’s just business.

March 19, 2002 | Rating: 2.5/4

Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
Bowfinger bears the same relation to satire as reports of the weekend grosses do to journalism.

March 3, 2002

Charles Taylor
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
Martin makes a perfect delusional meglomaniac and Murphy’s double act still plays really well.

May 28, 2021

Alex Behan
Stuff.co.nz
The minor characters are also great – most notably, Heather Graham…, Christine Baranski as a deluded stage veteran, and Eddie Murphy again in a second, surprise role that caps off the mayhem with just the right dash of stupidity.

April 15, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/5

Leigh Paatsch
Herald Sun (Australia)
Directed by Frank Oz and written by Steve Martin…

February 23, 2019 | Rating: 3/4

David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Bowfinger (1999), Steve Martin’s tribute to shoestring filmmaking and big-screen dreams, is a loving lampoon that gamely straddles the chasm between cynical con-artistry and benign innocence.

April 15, 2016

Sean Axmaker
Seanax.com
Hugely funny film that mixes knowing satire with winning stupidity, and has Martin and Murphy in form they have rarely managed in recent years.

February 27, 2008

Mark Morris
Film4
A showcase for wit.

July 23, 2007 | Rating: 5/5

Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com…

Plot
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 in getting the picture made and distributed all on this $2,184 as a starting point. It is using several of those lies that he is able to get a verbal confirmation from big studio executive Jerry Renfro to distribute the movie *if* it stars Kit Ramsey, arguably the biggest action star in the world. Using similar lies, Bobby, however, is unable to convince Kit to star in the movie. Kit, who has a weakness for the Laker Girls, is a self-absorbed and paranoid movie star whose life and thus career is largely directed behind the scenes by Terry Stricter, the head of a new age religion called MindHead. Bobby comes up with a scheme that he believes will get around Kit not agreeing to star: film Kit without him knowing that he is being filmed. The only person who knows of the scheme is Dave, Bobby’s lowest of low level inside man turned cinematographer who has unofficial (i.e. technically stolen and thus free) access to studio camera equipment and general knowledge of Kit’s general day-to-day movements through the studio system. Bobby is able to convince all the other actors that Kit’s acting process involves him not interacting with them outside of filming the specific scenes he has with them. Part of Bobby’s scheme involves using Kit’s general paranoia that aliens truly are invading the planet to get his gut reactions to what is happening within the context of the script. But Bobby knows he has to get Kit to scream the closing lines of the movie “gotcha suckas” for the movie to be a success. Complications ensue when another of the the actors, Carol, tries to go against Bobby’s policy of not making contact with Kit outside of filming, and when Bobby is required to hire a production assistant cum stunt double cum acting double, whose job in part is to stand-in for the requisite Kit Ramsey naked ass shot. Through it all, Bobby will know if he has made it in Hollywood if he gets a specific sign specifically from the heavens in the form of FedEx.

Trivia