The end of summer is here, and with it comes the inevitable late-summer/pre-fall studio dump. A quick glance at today’s entertainment section finds ads for such forthcoming (potential) stinkers as THE ASTRONAUT’S WIFE, IN TOO DEEP, CHILL FACTOR, DUDLEY DO-RIGHT and THE 13TH WARRIOR (aka EATERS OF THE DEAD).

As bad as these flicks all appear, none of them sinks to the level of CHUBBY RAIN, the sci-fi epic that could be the salvation (or ruin) of low-low-low budget filmmaker Bobby Bowfinger in the Steve Martin/Eddie Murphy/Frank OZ collabaration BOWFINGER. The script by Bowfinger’s accountant, screenwriter and sometimes actor Afrim is the outlandish tale of aliens that invade earth through raindrops, hence “chubby rain." Then again, having seen stuff like DEVIL FISH, THE ALIEN DEAD and countless others from the likes of Cirio Santiago and Jess Franco, the premise ain’t exactly THAT far-fetched.

Like a modern day Ed Wood, Bowfinger rounds up his motley cast and crew — supplemented by a vanload of illegal aliens from Mexico — and employs them in the surreptitious filming of star Kit Ramsey (a film-stealing Eddie Murphy). Unable to break the hearts of these long-suffering misfits, Bowfinger tells them that Ramsey prefers to work without meeting or seeing his co-stars. Oh, and they just get one take.

What makes the premise work is that Murphy’s Ramsey is a deluded shell of a superstar, seeing conspiracy at every corner and desperately in need of the guidance and support he gets from the Scientology-like Mind Head and its smooth-talking leader played by the suddenly ubiquitous Terence Stamp. When Christine Baranski (an actress I normally hate who exudes a quitely pathetic dignity here) approaches Murphy at a street-side restauarant blathering about aliens, his worst fears are realized and he delivers a totally “real” performance.

BOWFINGER is a gentle take on Hollywood’s misfits and losers that takes some time to get kick-started, but it’s well worth the wait. Kudos to writer and star Martin as well as the incredible Murphy (whose portrayal of Jiff, the Kit Ramsey stand-in is a brilliant and poignant comic turn) and Heather Graham who redeems herself after an atrocious stab at comedy in THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME.