“I love Smashing Pumpkins.”

ZombieDog’s review: The thing about cult movies is that it feels like we have a special seat to go along with the journey and witness the power of creativity behind them. Maybe not the most refined levels of creativity, but creativity nonetheless.

They also come with a certain level of delusion. Plan 9 from Outer Space relied so heavily on suspension of disbelief that it should’ve been a warning at the beginning of the movie. That passion shines through that desire to make a film.

Bowfinger is a 1999 movie starring Steve Martin and an ensemble cast of truly capable actors. Martin plays Robert Bowfinger, a shyster/director who is trying his best to make a movie by any means possible. Along with him are a band of misfits who equally share his passion for making a movie.

I’m a little biased here, as I’m a huge fan of Steve Martin. The Jerk, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, L.A. Story, and the recent Only Murders in the Building represent an incredible body of work. More than that, Martin was a philosophy major.

Bowfinger also stars Eddie Murphy, off-type and extremely off-type. Murphy plays two roles as Kit Ramsey and Kit Ramsey’s brother Jefferson. Both are so much different than anything he’s ever played before. Kit Ramsey is a neurotic, narcissistic, anxiety-ridden human being. Jefferson is less refined as a braces-wearing geek.

It’s amazing to watch, as there are so many times when I actually got lost in this character and forgot that I’m watching Eddie Murphy. His ability to do this in my mind places him amongst the world’s greatest actors. More than that though, the willingness to take a role that’s less than flattering I always have great respect for. When Tom Cruise took the role of a scumbag entertainment lawyer in 2008’s Tropic Thunder, I thought it was one of the most challenging acting jobs ever taken. And he’s won Oscars.

The movie that Bowfinger is making represents daring guerrilla filmmaking: He’s trying to make a movie with an A-list movie star without telling him that he’s in the movie. The crew goes from place to place filming Ramsey going about his daily life. Other actors pop in say crazy things, and Ramsey becomes increasingly freaked out because of the weirdness.

So let’s deal with the elephant in the room head on. This movie seems to be both inspired by and copied from 1994’s Ed Wood. To be fair, films about making movies are reasonably common, such as The Bad and the Beautiful starring Kirk Douglas, Hugo with Ben Kingsley, and Boogie Nights with that ensemble cast are just a few examples.

Hollywood has always tried to present itself as the city that pursues dreams. That in and of itself is worthy of exploration. A profession where people pursue constructs that come solely from people’s imagination.

Bowfinger has the elements of pursuing creativity and imagination it also has a grounded reality that this may take some deceptive practices and some underhanded tactics. The movie makes no apologies for this. Nor do I think it should. Steve Martin plays a character that is consciously aware that he’s lying to people and manipulating them, yet he has convinced himself that the end result is worth the effort.

At one point, they are found out and forced to shut down the movie. When Bowfinger tells the crew what’s happened, they’re more disappointed that they couldn’t finish the movie than they were shocked that Bowfinger misled them. When the movie falls apart Christine Baranski’s character Carol, puts it perfectly by saying, “It was a beautiful lie.”

The more I think about it, the more I believe that this represents almost the entire movie industry. We make movies about things that could never possibly be true, and yet we allow ourselves to be pulled into that dream. If there is a distinction between high and low art, it basically makes no difference to those who can be touched by either. I personally believe movies can enhance our lives with experiences that are beyond ours. More than that though we can gain insight into life itself by examining the passions and perversions that are presented to us.

If I had to give you a singular reason for watching Bowfinger, it would have to be Eddie Murphy. Murphy playing the brother of another character that he is also playing is such a thrill to watch. Murphy nails it and loses himself in the persona. The character of Jefferson Ramsey is more human and thankful to be on the journey than the rest of them combined. The entire cast all put in decent efforts and are amazingly fun to watch. Heather Graham, Robert Downey Jr., and the recently passed Terence Stamp are solid to say the least.

At 25 years old, this movie holds up — more than that, it’s fun.