The Muse (1999)

Comic writer-director Albert Brooks (Lost in America, Defending Your Life, Mother) specializes in difficult characters. Not characters who are neurotic in a fumbling but endearing Woody Allen kind of way; Brooks creates characters who would be a pain in the ass to know and are sometimes kind of excruciating to even watch--which is not to say that they're not also extremely funny. However, The Muse manages to soften the edges of his persona while sustaining the humor. Steven (Brooks), a screenwriter, can't get anyone interested in his scripts. An extremely successful friend recommends that he talk to Sarah (Sharon Stone), who is--according the friend--a muse, one of the daughters of the Greek god Zeus who inspire creativity. The only problem is that Sarah not only gives, she takes: She demands gifts of diamond necklaces, expensive hotel rooms, late-night trips to expensive restaurants, and virtual servitude from whomever she's taken under her wing. This initially arouses suspicion in Steven's wife, Laura (Andie MacDowell), but soon Laura is asking for her own inspiration and it's Steven who starts to get jealous. Stone runs wild with her capricious character and an abundance of tart cameos (from Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Rob Reiner, Jennifer Tilly, Cybill Shepherd, and Wolfgang Puck) add juice to the proceedings. --Bret Fetzer Amazon.com

A Stinker

A stinkingly bad 'comedy' with some really annoying and unsympathetic characters and some really annoying incidental music.

At least we do get a 1 sec view of Sharon Stone naked; although the IMDB guys seem to thinks it's a body double.

May 6, 2008

Life imitates art.

The first half-hour is fine. Brooks is always at his best when his character is downtrodden or neurotic, and it's easy to sympathize with the screenwriter he plays here--one who's told repeatedly that he's "lost his edge."

But Brooks lets go of his character's misery too quickly ... and the movie never picks up steam from there. The rest of this story--his writer seeks inspiration from a high-maintenance muse played by Sharon Stone--fails to be in any way funny or revealing. It's simply dull, and we sit there waiting for director Brooks to recognize it, too, and turn this dog around.

The problem's pretty basic: Brooks's real-world acts Two and Three have no pop. The summer-blockbuster idea the muse inspires needs to be funny. But it isn't. It sounds dreadful, and increasingly, Brooks's character's problems become Brooks's real-life issues: how to put sizzle into an dry, workmanlike script perked up only by a spirited Stone. (Cameos from James Cameron and Martin Scorcese don't really help; they just highlight the barrenness of the terrain around them.)

Indeed, after that first half-hour, very little works here ... until the ending, which exhibits the flash of inspiration missing from the picture as a whole. March 16, 2007

Sad.

Where do I start... A desperate writer goes into debt to keep a supposed "muse" living in the lap of luxury. This is from the Danny DeVito school of film making, hideous characters, doing hideous things all of which comes no where close to a black comedy but a drawn out "one joke" movie. The only person I know that enjoyed this movie has deep emotional problems herself and probably identified with the Sharon Stone character. This is creepy Hollywood at it's worst. January 22, 2006

Five stars!

I have seen this movie more than ten times (no kidding!!) and just can't get enough of it. What a lovely story. Brooks, Stone and MacDowell are simply brilliant just beautiful in their rolls. I also enjoyed seeing Jeff Bridges again whom I always remember for his superb roll in Starman. Brooks and Stone are just fantastic in the last 5 minutes of the finale. The finale does leave some unresolved questions in my mind but still it is a great movie. If Albert Brooks sets his mind to it, I'm sure he could come up with a sequel. I'll see this movie over and over and never get tired of it. Who said you need all of that vulgar language, sex and violence to make a great movie!! January 18, 2006

This was a comedy?

NOTE: SOME SPOILERS BELOW!

I saw this movie on television having never heard anything about it. When it was through I was left with the feeling that I had been robbed both of my time and of some hidden part of my soul. But I didn't worry much. After all, I've never really understood these quirky dark dramedies. Then I hear that this was supposed to be a straight-out comedy?!?!?! Somebody find me a joke in this thing. This is a film about a really depressed writer (Albert Brooks) who's career is over. Sharon Stone is supposedly a muse who Brooks hires to help him. Ironically she ends up helping everyone except Brooks and taking complete advantage of him. Yeah, real funny Brooks, let's see how long you can make that one gimmick work. The only thing keeping us from hating Stone is that she's a magical being and therefore must know what's best. At the end it turns out that maybe she was just an escaped mental patient. We're not really sure. So the audience is left with this horrible taste in their mouths rather than any shred of laughter that the filmmakers might have been hoping for. In short, the entire affair is an abysmal waste of celluloid to be avoided by anyone who values their time...and SOUL! Go rent a movie that hits "funny" on the head instead of just dancing around it from a mile away. June 15, 2005

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