Now, I have an admitted Steve Martin bias.   One of my favorite movies is L.A. Story, which is nothing to be ashamed of.  However, another one of my favorite movies is Three Amigos.  ("Let me prepare you for the way El Guapo makes love.  Tell me, Carmen.  Do you know what foreplay is?"  "No." "Neither does El Guapo.")  I figure I owe you, my readers, that disclaimer. 

Bowfinger is about an aging producer named Bobby Bowfinger (Martin) who has one last chance to make the movie that will save his career.  His accountant has written a movie called Chubby Rain, which Bowfinger thinks is brilliant, but has the most ridiculous premise imaginable (I won't spoil it for you).  After an hilarious "meeting" with a big time producer, Bowfinger has a promise for a "go picture" if he can get action star Kit Ramsey to play the lead role.  

As soon as I saw this next bit in the trailer I was hooked.  Telling his crew that Kit has unorthodox working methods, Bowfinger decides his actors will walk up to Kit and say their lines without Kit realizing he is in the movie.  This is executed perfectly, especially when we discover that Kit has some... interesting personality quirks.  Bowfinger also finds a Kit lookalike, named Jiff, to use for long shots, stunts and as a butt double.  

Eddie Murphy and Steve Martin are an inspired pairing.  They are both in peak form here.  Steve Martin is wonderful as both a writer and comic actor, and invests his character with the perfect aura of likeable bullshit, optimism and desperation.  Eddie, in a brilliant dual performance, fully inhabits the personae of Kit Ramsey and his lookalike, Jiff, to such an extent that it’s almost difficult to believe it’s the same actor in both roles.   

Other great things about this movie: Christine Baranski and Heather Graham are perfect as truly bad actors with a dream.  The way they go about finding a "crew" is hilarious, not to mention the subtle transformation the crew undergoes.   The representation of numerous ethnicities gently tweaks the stereotypes.  The way the city of Los Angeles is portrayed is affectionate, yet honest.  Robert "Hello Dad, I’m in jail" Downey Jr. in a small role, plays it with deadpan perfection.  I also love the fact that John Travolta is just going to hate this movie—that is, if he recognizes what "Mind Head" really is.   

And for that matter, I also love the irony that Mind Head tries to convince Kit there are no aliens, when the basic premise of Scientology is that there’s an evil alien galactic overlord controlling our minds.   

Man, that's going to get me sued.