on modern film-making, with enough jokes to keep it entertaining throughout." At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half out of four stars, and wrote "Bowfinger is one of those comedies where everything works." The film received three out of four stars from the TLA Video & DVD Guide, where it was described as a "goodspirited, funny look at a hack Hollywood producer who will go to any lengths to get his film made." The Seattle Post-Intelligencer gave the film a rating of "A−" in its review, writing "This is one terrific comedy that doesn't let up for an instant." The Rocky Mountain News highlighted the film as a "Critics' Choice", and wrote that "Steve Martin takes gentle but funny aim at Hollywood" in the film. In The Washington Post, Jane Horwitz described the film as a "riotous farce". The Kansas City Star called it a "frequently hilarious comedy". The New York Times highly recommended the film, and reviewer Janet Maslin wrote "This hilarious, good-hearted spiritual descendant of The Producers is a comic coup for Mr. Martin." A review in the Deseret Morning News was critical, giving the film two and a half out of four stars, and called it a "funny but frantic and somewhat mean-spirited comedy." A review in The Austin Chronicle was also critical. Film critic Russell Smith gave the film two and a half stars, and wrote "As a diehard Martin fan, I'm still hoping for a comeback, but it'll take better efforts than this to get me back in his cheering section." Leonard Maltin also gave the film two and a half stars, and wrote in his Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide "Likeable costars carry this comedy a long way; there are some good laughs throughout, but it's never as satisfying as you'd like it to be." Stacey Wilson Hunt from Vulture considered Bowfinger as Murphy's underrated classic. About that, Murphy said: "I love Bowfinger. That's a funny one. It was all mostly on page—I don't remember doing a lot of improvising. I kind of played what he wanted to play. It was all Steve Martin's creation." Box office The film debuted at the #2