Steve Martin is back. And hopefully he will stick around for awhile, because Hollywood has been lacking in comedic talent for quite some time. Not only did he star in Bowfinger, but the former Saturday Night Live star also wrote the script. This is not all that unusual for Martin, who has written and starred in such comedic classics as The Three Amigos, Roxanne, and The Jerk. Hopefully, there will be many more to come.
Martin's sense of humor really shines in this movie, as he pokes fun at the movie industry and those trying to make it big. Martin plays Bobby Bowfinger, an aspiring movie producer who has just about one chance left, and a slim one at that. He resorts to conning (a great comedic staple), theft (er, um, borrowing), and more conning to achieve his lofty goal. The end result is that Bowfinger is an extremely funny movie. But it is not like many comedies of late where there are special scenes that are extremely gross but make you almost die from laughter (such as Something About Mary or Austin Powers). Bowfinger turns out to have a much more genuine and intellectual hilarity to it. The entire plot and developments create a sense of amusement that lasts the entire length of the movie.
But what makes this film even more special is the fact that it also showcases another great talent who has dwindled as of late (with the exception of The Nutty Professor), and that is, of course, Eddie Murphy. Here, he plays two roles (why only two?), a Hollywood action superstar named Kit Ramsey who is a little on-edge, and a geeky loser named Jiff ("Like the peanut butter?") whose only blessing in life seems to be the fact that he looks like Kit Ramsey.
And every great movie has to have a hot chick. This one turns out to be the same one from this summer's Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me: Heather Graham. In this one, she is not just another pretty face, but a conner herself who intends to make her way to the top by sleeping with the right person (or should I say "people"?).
After leaving the theater, the thing that I best remembered about the movie was: the entire movie. It is just a great comedy from top to bottom. And seeing Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy together again (and for the first time on the big screen) was a true joy. These are the kinds of movies that I would like to see a lot more of. Now, if we could only get Chevy Chase to make a comeback as well...
Very funny! Don't miss it.