Despite a relatively smaller role, Downey does not waste a moment of his time on screen in Bowfinger, using the same signature smugness he redefined to make it lovable as Tony Stark, in an appropriately slimier manner to help bring this brilliant satire on the cutthroat environment of Hollywood full circle.
Downey plays hot-shot producer Jerry Renfro, who gives the desperate Bobby Bowfinger (Martin in the title role) the green light on a cheesy sci-fi flick if A-list action star Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy) is cast, forcing Bowfinger to shoot the film without Ramsey knowing he is in it.
Speaking of criminally overlooked, one of the funnier films of Robert Downey Jr.’s career, in my opinion, is also one of the better long forgotten comedies of the 1990s, which comes from writer Steve Martin and director Frank Oz (whom you may also recognize as Yoda).