feeldb

Bowfinger

1999 · 97 min · Director: Frank Oz ★ IMDb 6.5 · 78,476 ratings

Show plot summary (may contain spoilers)

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.

Ask Kadri

Trailer for Bowfinger

Playing the trailer connects to YouTube. No connection is made until you choose to play.

Rate how it felt
Working…

Your viewing check-in

Emotional fingerprint

Bowfinger (1999) — Movie. Top emotional signals: Humor 40%, Excitement 20%, Surprise 15%. Source: AI estimate. Shares describe emotional signal, not percentages of people. Your experience may differ. How we measure

  1. Humor40%

AI estimate · no viewer votes yet

How we measure

AI estimate

Share of emotional signal, not the percentage of people or a probability of enjoyment.

Each viewer contributes one response, split equally across their selected emotions. When available, an automated estimate supplies a prior that is blended with those responses. Counts include distinct viewers, not automated estimates or archived anonymous votes. Fewer than 3 viewers is an early estimate; more responses do not guarantee certainty.

Why it feels this way

The strongest emotional signals are Humor, Excitement, Surprise. Genres: Comedy. AI estimate.

Is it worth watching?

Consider this title if you are looking for Humor, Excitement and Surprise. Its IMDb rating of 6.5/10 suggests a generally positive audience reception. For these leading emotions, its Feel Score is 67/100.

How did it make you feel?

Votes are saved to the fingerprint once you’re signed in.

Pick up to three · 0/3

1
2
3

Emotional journey

AI · from subtitles
  • Humor
  • Hope
  • Joy

Not enough subtitle evidence

No dominant emotion

Dominant emotion: Hope

Dominant emotion: Humor

Dominant emotion: Tension

Dominant emotion: Joy

Humor
Hope
Joy
Emotional journey Emotional intensity over the film’s runtime, from quieter to stronger on a fixed 0–1 scale. Hatched intervals have insufficient subtitle evidence. The table provides the values. Not enough subtitle evidence
Ending hidden

Dominant emotion

Intensity dips around 3 %, then peaks around 83 %.Ending hidden

Emotional journey
%Approximate minuteDominant emotionOverall intensityHumorHopeJoy
2.5 %≈ 2′Hope37 %33 %32 %8 %
7.5 %≈ 7′Humor41 %40 %35 %16 %
12.5 %≈ 12′Humor45 %45 %32 %21 %
17.5 %≈ 17′Humor44 %43 %25 %16 %
22.5 %≈ 22′Humor43 %40 %25 %13 %
27.5 %≈ 27′Humor43 %40 %30 %16 %
32.5 %≈ 32′Hope44 %41 %30 %20 %
37.5 %≈ 36′Humor45 %44 %23 %16 %
42.5 %≈ 41′Humor46 %46 %19 %13 %
47.5 %≈ 46′Humor50 %46 %19 %11 %
52.5 %≈ 51′Tension51 %44 %16 %13 %
57.5 %≈ 56′Humor49 %41 %15 %15 %
62.5 %≈ 61′Tension49 %40 %14 %13 %
67.5 %≈ 65′Humor49 %39 %13 %9 %
72.5 %≈ 70′Tension51 %40 %13 %8 %
77.5 %≈ 75′Humor60 %44 %11 %8 %
82.5 %≈ 80′Tension63 %44 %18 %16 %
87.5 %≈ 85′Humor56 %40 %34 %36 %
92.5 %≈ 90′Joy52 %33 %43 %48 %
97.5 %≈ 95′Not enough subtitle evidenceNot enough subtitle evidenceNot enough subtitle evidenceNot enough subtitle evidenceNot enough subtitle evidence
Man in a hole

Rags to riches: The emotional tone rises from negative to positive.

Riches to rags: The emotional tone falls from positive to negative.

Man in a hole: The tone falls, then recovers.

Icarus: The tone rises, then falls.

Cinderella: The tone rises, falls, then rises again.

Oedipus: The tone falls, rises, then falls again.

AI reading of the film’s English subtitles (dialogue and sound cues) — not viewer votes. How we measure ↗

Kadri — your film companion

AI

Ask anything about Bowfinger. From the film’s own dialogue and FeelDB data, at your spoiler level.

Kadri

Hi, I’m Kadri. Ask me anything about Bowfinger — I’ll stay inside your spoiler line.

Premise only
Enter to send · Shift + Enter for a new line
Afterward Reveal viewer responses · may contain spoilers

Viewer responses about feelings after the title ended, separate from feelings while watching. No AI estimates.

0 responses so far

Feeling details appear after at least 3 viewers respond, to protect privacy.

Cast

BN
Barry Newman

Hal, Kit's Agent

Kohl Sudduth

Slater

Terence Stamp

Terry Stricter

Robert Downey Jr.

Jerry Renfro

AP
Alejandro Patiño

Sanchez

AD
Alfred De Contreras

Martinez

RF
Ramiro Fabian

Hector

JS
Johnny Sanchez

Luis

CB
Claude Brooks

Freddy

KS
Kevin Scannell

LA Cop

JP
John Prosky

MindHead Executive

MD
Michael Dempsey

Camera Security Guard

WP
Walter Powell

Federal Express Man

PL
Phill Lewis

Actor at Audition

Details

Directed by
Frank Oz
Written by
Steve Martin
Type
Movies
Released
1999
Runtime
97 min
Country
United States
Genres
Comedy
Ratings
★ IMDb 6.5 · 78,476 ratings
Feels mostly
Humor
Data updated

Where to watch

Also on

Availability varies by country

Data: JustWatch · Wikidata

Feels similar

More like this →

Emotion overlap shows mood similarity, not a prediction of enjoyment.