Steve Martin is Bobby Bowfinger, quite possibly the world's worst movie producer (think of Ed Wood, and spread on a thick, buttery layer of extra sleaze). Bowfinger's accountant has just handed him a home-made masterpiece, a screenplay titled Chubby Rain - and it's a movie Bowfinger wants to make, regardless of the cost (which is easy to say, since he has virtually no money). As it turns out, the only way any studio executive in Hollywood will take his project seriously is if he can attach a major star to the project - say, for example, action hero Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy). Unable to strike up a deal with Ramsey, Bowfinger decides to make his movie in the most unconventional (and least legal) way imaginable: his faithful repertoire company of starving actors will each approach Ramsey and say their lines as hidden cameras film them - and Ramsey will be none the wiser. There's only one snag with this otherwise dandy filmmaking strategy...the constant intrusions on his life are driving the already-unstable Ramsey steadily more insane. When Ramsey finally breaks and goes into seclusion to seek therapy, can Bowfinger finish making his celluloid masterpiece? And if he can finish it...will anyone care to see it?

I'm not a big fan of either Steve Martin or Eddie Murphy on the best of days, but this combination of the two comic has-beens is masterful. Finally, we have an almost-plausible explanation of the process by which major stars become attached to motion pictures which crash and burn with an almighty thud! (Though I'm fairly sure Harrison Ford knew he was being filmed for Sabrina...)

It's hard to pin down a single sympathetic character in this movie, and sometimes that's the charm of it. Bowfinger's followers are all neurotic in their own annoying ways, but one admires - in a vague and distant way - their dedication to their...erm...craft. Bowfinger himself is both conniving and incredibly naive, but the former really does keep the latter from winning me over to actually liking the guy. This movie takes the audience's tendency to root for the underdog and stretches that tendency to the limits of good taste. It helps that the role of Bowfinger forced Martin to stretch himself a bit - it really seemed to be more of a Bill Murray-esque character to me.

Heather Graham, now infamous as Felicity Shagwell from the second Austin Powers movie, turns in an amusing (though sometimes a little disgusting) performance as an aspiring starlet who will do anything - or, for that matter, anyone - to write her own ticket in Hollywood. Though the character is played as incredibly naive for all of about ten minutes early on, she drives a lot of the changes that are inflicted upon Chubby Rain, mainly to the benefit of her own screen time. She also drives every guy working for Bowfinger - and that means every guy - nuts.

Eddie Murphy does some of the best work I've seen him do in years as Kit Ramsey. Though it's clear from the outset that Ramsey is a basket case, Murphy makes me believe that the man is getting crazier as Bowfinger's intrepid retinue of actors continues to harrass him for the sake of their low-budget nightmare. Murphy also does an excellent job of playing Kit's dimwitted twin brother Jiff, who gets drafted into service as Kit's "stand-in" for close-ups.

For those cynical about the inner workings of Hollywood, skip Burn, Hollywood, Burn: An Alan Smithee Film and pick up Bowfinger. And I heartily recommend the DVD for its nifty extra features, including some hilarious outtakes.

• written by Steve Martin
• directed by Frank Oz
• music by Randy Newman
• Cast: Steve Martin (Bowfinger), Eddie Murphy (Kit Ramsey), Eddie Murphy (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 Patino (Sanchez), Alfred de Contreras (Martinez), Ramiro Fabian (Hector), Johnny Sanchez (Luis), Claude Brooks (Freddy), Kevin Scannell (L.A. Cop), John Prosky (Mindhead executive), Michael Dempsey (Camera security guard), Walter Powell (Federal Express man), Phill Lewis (Actor at audition), Marisol Nichols (Young actress at audition), Nathan Anderson (Clothing sales clerk), Brogan Roche (Renfro's executive), John Cho (Nightclub cleaner), Lloyd Berman (Camera store clerk), Zaid Farid (Kit's limo driver), Aaron Brumfield (Kit's bodyguard), Kevin Grevioux (Kit's bodyguard), Kimble Jemison (Kit's assistant), Alex Craig Mann (Studio executive), Laura Grady (E! channel interviewer), Reamy Hall (Farrah), Michelle Boehle (Laker Girl), Kimberly Baum (Laker Girl), Megan Denton (Laker Girl), Janet Jaeger (Laker Girl), Hope Wood (Laker Girl), Addie Yungmee (Laker Girl), Andrea Toste (Laker Girl), Mindy (Betsy - Bowfinger's dog)