The Muse

Rating:
Summary: Perfect!
Review: In the muse, Albert Brooks is a succesful director who is being
told by everyone that he is losing his edge. But an "inspiring"
woman(Sharon Stone) will help him get it back. It's too good to
be true untill... You see what happens next. See The Muse

Rating:
Summary: A-Musing!
Review: Love the way Brooks demonstrates the relative irrelevance of Hollywood scriptwriters. Though it's hard to well and truly sympathize with a character of such financial means and the film does craftily illustrate the vanity and blind willingness to go along with anything that will help them maintain their life of luxury - the Brooks character making it plain that he wants to write big blockbusters in favor of indie films - in order of course, to live the high life. A major plus, though, is that Brooks is free of a persistent and annoying, donkey laugh typified by a certain ubiquitous businessperson.

Rating:
Summary: A Different Take
Review: Maybe it's because I had just started reading Steven Pressfield's "The War of Art" when I saw The Muse, but I had a different take on it. Others have already synopsized the film, so I'll just say: try watching it and thinking of the Muse (Sharon Stone) as, literally, an artist's creativity. What happens? It makes extravagant demands at inopportune times. It wakes you up at three in the morning because that's when it feels like working. It wants what it wants and doesn't care about your pocketbook, your relationship or your convenience. It gets [ticked] off and leaves if you undervalue it or start doubting it. You worry that others' creativity and success might take away from yours. Your female side (Andie McDowell) is maybe a little more comfortable with it (even thinking she will share a bed with it) then runs away when she sees what she's getting into (better to sleep on a cold, hard floor than to get too close to a real creative life). The writer, told he has lost his "edge" gets into a situation where he's lost his job, can't sell his work--can't even get a meeting--and has to spend prodigiously to support this costly, demanding, maddening, beautiful thing. Desperate, anxious, confused...he sure does get edgy by the end. It's hilarious that the Muse keeps saying to him, "are you writing this down?" She makes him write, even if it's just her shopping list. I enjoyed this film not just for the Hollywood satire, the clever lines and the sparkling performances, but also for its pointed, thought-provoking subtext.

Rating:
Summary: A Different Take
Review: Maybe it's because I had just started reading Steven Pressfield's "The War of Art" when I saw The Muse, but I had a different take on it. Others have already synopsized the film, so I'll just say: try watching it and thinking of the Muse (Sharon Stone) as, literally, an artist's creativity. What happens? It makes extravagant demands at inopportune times. It wakes you up at three in the morning because that's when it feels like working. It wants what it wants and doesn't care about your pocketbook, your relationship or your convenience. It gets [ticked] off and leaves if you undervalue it or start doubting it. You worry that others' creativity and success might take away from yours. Your female side (Andie McDowell) is maybe a little more comfortable with it (even thinking she will share a bed with it) then runs away when she sees what she's getting into (better to sleep on a cold, hard floor than to get too close to a real creative life). The writer, told he has lost his "edge" gets into a situation where he's lost his job, can't sell his work--can't even get a meeting--and has to spend prodigiously to support this costly, demanding, maddening, beautiful thing. Desperate, anxious, confused...he sure does get edgy by the end. It's hilarious that the Muse keeps saying to him, "are you writing this down?" She makes him write, even if it's just her shopping list. I enjoyed this film not just for the Hollywood satire, the clever lines and the sparkling performances, but also for its pointed, thought-provoking subtext.

Rating:
Summary: It's okay
Review: See it if you want, it's kinda funny, and a perfect film to watch on a rainy day.

Rating:
Summary: Albert Brooks is fantastic once again
Review: Summary: Albert Brooks' genius shines again.

Albert Brooks again shows why he's the best director and writer in America. Like Defending Your Life and Mother, The Muse is packed with insight, heart and originality. A Hollywood writer who (the suits claim) has lost his Edge, turns in desperation to a professional "muse." Sharon Stone plays this role just right - deliciously flaky, but heartrending, too, for her ability to activate others' potential, but inability to realize her own (how many of us play this role, believing our role is to encourage and inspire others, but never jump-starting our own dreams -- I never thought about this until I saw the movie). Albert Brooks and Andy MacDowell are also wonderful.Their bumpy search for the meaning of success is poignant, inspiring and, in true Brooks fashion, hilarious. Albert Brooks has most decidedly not lost his edge. I can't wait for his next one.

Rating:
Summary: Sharon Stone proves what she is worth
Review: The Muse is a gentle little comedy from Albert Brooks featuring Sharon Stone as a muse that comes at a very high price. What makes this movie special is Sharon Stones performance. She proves she is not just a former model, but a very gifted and talented actress as well. She seems to be picking better roles these days, and staying away from the typecasting. The script is light-hearted and sweet, and always fun to watch. All in all, a very entertaining film that suggests the best muse is the one inside of us.

Rating:
Summary: PITFALLS OF BANKING ON ONE JOKE
Review: The Muse is not necessarily an insufferable movie, it has its rewards, notably some interesting jabs at the Hollywood mindset, cameos from famous directors including big tykes like Martin Scorcese, Sharon Stone's fizzy performance in the title role, and Brooks' typical enactments of exasperation that build to deliciously juvenile outbursts.

The problem is that its low-key shaggy-dog story has plenty of flat stretches, and its reliance on basically one in-joke premise fizzles out much too quickly.

It's the sort of Hollywood-punches-Hollywood theme you've seen many times before and several times better, like with The Player. Even the continuous stream of cameos from celebrities becomes tiresome after a while.

What the movie needed, ironically, is some inspiration. It may be a decent rental to pass a particularly sluggish afternoon, nothing more.

Rating:
Summary: YAWN!
Review: There was absolutely no humor in this movie. It was supposed to be a comedy, right? It was BORING!

Rating:
Summary: There's One Born Every Minute ...
Review: This incredibly far fetched non-sense is certainly one of Albert Brooks' lesser achievements. A moderately successful Hollywood screen writer hits "the wall" and is told by everyone in the business that he's yesterday's donut. Enter Sharon Stone as the "muse" who is to turn his life back on track and then insure it takes off to new heights. Excentric doesn't discribe the muse. This woman has invented lavish living (at her clints' expense).

Both Brooks and his wife (Andie MacDowell) seem "inspired" by Stone's presence. MacDowell starts an extremely successful cookie baking business, and Brooks comes up with new ideas for a comedy script. The plot hobbles along, and an inevidable twist towards the end is the final slap in the face for those who had just unwisely invested an hour and a half of life they'll never get back. A luke-warm Elton John theme song does nothing to rescue this lemon. Have another look at the FUNNY "Mother" and forget "The Muse".**