The Muse

Rating:
Summary: Lightweight comedy with a point
Review: Every few years Albert Brooks declares himself God and creates a little universe in his own image and likeness in the form of a film he writes, directs and in which he stars. "The Muse", his latest creation is a harmless jab at the Hollywood filmmaking industry. The story is not particularly new or fresh, but it is effective satire in Brooks' inimitable sardonic style. The comedy mostly works, but sometimes falls flat with excess as Brooks can't seem to judge when a gag becomes too much of a good thing.

Brooks plays Steven Phillips, a veteran writer who has "lost his edge". At least that is what he is being told by everyone else. Upon relating his frustrations to his best friend Jack (Jeff Bridges), Jack confides in him that his career was saved by a muse and promptly offers to set up a meeting with her and Steven. Enter Sarah Liddle (Sharon Stone), muse extraordinaire, who in return for her inspiration requires lavish and continual attention and has an insatiable appetite for luxuries.

Steven becomes her shameless lackey as does his wife (Andie MacDowell) in hopes that she can bring both of them fame and fortune. Ultimately they discover that she is not actually a muse, but something else entirely.

As always, Brooks casts himself in the puling nebbish role, full of self deprecation and sarcastic pokes at everyone and everything. The movie makes the satirical point that everyone in Hollywood is looking for an edge and will do just about anything to get it. In typical Albert Brooks style, comedy is used to make an introspective point. If one looks deeper, the philosophical point is that "the edge" is a perceptual concept. If one is affected by the industry's negative opinion of one's work, the loss of confidence will cause him to lose his edge. This is obvious by the fact that the muse had no real powers, yet she helped every person she met. The only thing that changed was each individual's belief in the talent they had lost faith in.

The story meanders from scene to scene with no real flow and shamelessly throws in dozens of cameos of all Brooks' Hollywood friends. From a directorial perspective, this film show why it is not a good idea for a writer to direct his own material. He is too close to it and can't see the little flaws that make the movie choppy.

The acting was mixed. I'm convinced that Albert Brooks is not really acting when he stars in movies he writes. He is just being Albert Brooks, saying the words he would say if he were in this fantasy situation of his own creation. While his whimpering style can be funny in minor roles as a foil to some other character, a full feature dominated by his whining gets more than a little tedious.

Andie MacDowell never ceases to be fresh in the nice girl role. She just beams with enthusiasm and vitality as Steven's wife who, inspired by the muse, turns her love of baking into a Hollywood cookie empire.

Sharon Stone dominates and energizes the story in her role as the muse. This is the type of role she plays best, the ultimate femme fatale, a siren of fantasy and desire. She exudes feminine superiority and gets her way through guile and manipulation. No one can resist her magic and she makes slaves of them all.

I gave this movie a 7/10. All in all, it was entertaining, with some funny gags and plenty of Albert Brooks ironic jaundice for life. If you can't get enough of Albert Brooks, you will want to see this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Lightweight comedy with a point
Review: Every few years Albert Brooks declares himself God and creates a little universe in his own image and likeness in the form of a film he writes, directs and in which he stars. "The Muse", his latest creation is a harmless jab at the Hollywood filmmaking industry. The story is not particularly new or fresh, but it is effective satire in Brooks' inimitable sardonic style. The comedy mostly works, but sometimes falls flat with excess as Brooks can't seem to judge when a gag becomes too much of a good thing.

Brooks plays Steven Phillips, a veteran writer who has "lost his edge". At least that is what he is being told by everyone else. Upon relating his frustrations to his best friend Jack (Jeff Bridges), Jack confides in him that his career was saved by a muse and promptly offers to set up a meeting with her and Steven. Enter Sarah Liddle (Sharon Stone), muse extraordinaire, who in return for her inspiration requires lavish and continual attention and has an insatiable appetite for luxuries.

Steven becomes her shameless lackey as does his wife (Andie MacDowell) in hopes that she can bring both of them fame and fortune. Ultimately they discover that she is not actually a muse, but something else entirely.

As always, Brooks casts himself in the puling nebbish role, full of self deprecation and sarcastic pokes at everyone and everything. The movie makes the satirical point that everyone in Hollywood is looking for an edge and will do just about anything to get it. In typical Albert Brooks style, comedy is used to make an introspective point. If one looks deeper, the philosophical point is that "the edge" is a perceptual concept. If one is affected by the industry's negative opinion of one's work, the loss of confidence will cause him to lose his edge. This is obvious by the fact that the muse had no real powers, yet she helped every person she met. The only thing that changed was each individual's belief in the talent they had lost faith in.

The story meanders from scene to scene with no real flow and shamelessly throws in dozens of cameos of all Brooks' Hollywood friends. From a directorial perspective, this film show why it is not a good idea for a writer to direct his own material. He is too close to it and can't see the little flaws that make the movie choppy.

The acting was mixed. I'm convinced that Albert Brooks is not really acting when he stars in movies he writes. He is just being Albert Brooks, saying the words he would say if he were in this fantasy situation of his own creation. While his whimpering style can be funny in minor roles as a foil to some other character, a full feature dominated by his whining gets more than a little tedious.

Andie MacDowell never ceases to be fresh in the nice girl role. She just beams with enthusiasm and vitality as Steven's wife who, inspired by the muse, turns her love of baking into a Hollywood cookie empire.

Sharon Stone dominates and energizes the story in her role as the muse. This is the type of role she plays best, the ultimate femme fatale, a siren of fantasy and desire. She exudes feminine superiority and gets her way through guile and manipulation. No one can resist her magic and she makes slaves of them all.

I gave this movie a 7/10. All in all, it was entertaining, with some funny gags and plenty of Albert Brooks ironic jaundice for life. If you can't get enough of Albert Brooks, you will want to see this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly Charming!
Review: Forget the Sharon Stone of movies like Basic Instinct, Sliver or even Casino. This is an entirely different role and one that might actually change your opinion of her. Albert Brooks - who was also the writer and director of this little film - is a once successful screenwriter amid a career dry spell. At the suggestion of a friend, he seeks to engage the services of a muse, Sarah - Sharon - who demands gifts, living quarters and perpetual adoration. The initial benefit is questionable as Brooks struggles to realize any positive ideas from Sarah while his wife - Andie MacDowell - comes up with a hundred thoughts regarding the relationship between him and his erstwhile source of inspiration.

It's Andie that strikes gold first through the presence of Sarah, leading to comic angst from her husband - and perhaps no one has as much angst as Albert Brooks. Cameo appearances by a number of Hollywood characters playing themselves help to keep your interest through whatever slow spots might bog things down at times. But this is a lovely comedy that will give you enjoyment throughout.

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly Charming!
Review: Forget the Sharon Stone of movies like Basic Instinct, Sliver or even Casino. This is an entirely different role and one that might actually change your opinion of her. Albert Brooks - who was also the writer and director of this little film - is a once successful screenwriter amid a career dry spell. At the suggestion of a friend, he seeks to engage the services of a muse, Sarah - Sharon - who demands gifts, living quarters and perpetual adoration. The initial benefit is questionable as Brooks struggles to realize any positive ideas from Sarah while his wife - Andie MacDowell - comes up with a hundred thoughts regarding the relationship between him and his erstwhile source of inspiration.

It's Andie that strikes gold first through the presence of Sarah, leading to comic angst from her husband - and perhaps no one has as much angst as Albert Brooks. Cameo appearances by a number of Hollywood characters playing themselves help to keep your interest through whatever slow spots might bog things down at times. But this is a lovely comedy that will give you enjoyment throughout.

Rating:
Summary: Well, She Is The Daughter Of Zeus...
Review: Hollywood takes a hit in "The Muse," a subtle comedy from co-writer, director and star Albert Brooks. One week after screenwriter Steven Phillips (Brooks) receives a Humanitarian Award for Lifetime Achievement, he is fired from a three picture deal at Paramount because there are those who feel that he is "losing his edge." His agent, Hal (Bradley Whitford), tells him to take a year off, get his edge back. With a wife and two daughters, however, Steven proclaims this to be an unviable option, whereupon he falls into a funk with no idea of what to do next. His wife, Laura (Andie MacDowell) urges him to consult with his best friend and fellow screenwriter, Jack Warrick (Jeff Bridges), who has been on a roll for the past couple of years, including one in which he won an Oscar. After some coaxing, Steven gets Jack to let him in on the secret of his success, and it turns out that he has a muse (a "real" muse), and her name is Sarah Liddle (Sharon Stone). Incredulous, initially, Steven is finally convinced, and Jack sets up a meeting for him with Sarah. She agrees to take him on, and he quickly learns that there are rules and obligations that go along with having a muse, which include a suite at the Four Seasons, being on call whenever she feels "inspired," as well as getting her dry cleaning done and shopping for her. All at his expense, of course ("Consider it an investment"). And then there's the little matter of explaining it all to Laura ("Muses exist! They live amongst us!" he tells her). She responds as expected, but then Brooks cleverly takes the story in another direction. Laura and Sarah have lunch together, bond, and soon Steven is sharing his muse with his wife. Brooks fine-tunes and finesses the humor throughout the film, taking Steven through his paces as he tries to balance out his obligations to Sarah and Laura with the time he needs to actually do some writing. But the fact that Sarah is supposedly the daughter of Zeus, and that it is taken for granted by all who believe her to be a real muse, is really at the core of the humor in this movie. Watching intelligent, successful people falling prey to such gullibility enables us to laugh all the more at a situation that is already hilarious on the surface. Moreover, when you think about it and realize that there are actually those in Hollywood (as well as anywhere, I suspect) who could, in reality, be convinced that such a thing as a "Muse" actually exists, it makes it all that much funnier still; yet if you extend that thought further, it almost becomes scary. Ultimately, Brooks and co-writer Monica Johnson have turned out a movie that works extremely well on two levels, with the satire on the surface perfectly complimented by all that's going on underneath. As usual, Brooks has assembled an excellent supporting cast, including Mark Feuerstein (Josh Martin) and Steven Wright (Stan Spielberg), as well as sprinkling effective cameos by Rob Reiner, James Cameron, Lorenzo Lamas, and Jennifer Tilly (all of whom play themselves), throughout; and there's an especially humorous bit by Martin Scorsese (also playing himself). The triumph of "The Muse" is that it is thought provoking as well as laugh provoking; you'll laugh, think about it for awhile, and when it really hits you, you'll probably be smiling and chuckling for the rest of the day.

Rating:
Summary: I Was Filled With Inspiration After Seeing This Muse!
Review: I don't know why everyone is picking on this film so much! I wanted to see it really bad after watching so many previews for it on cable. Finally i bought the DVD on just a whim, and I am so glad I did!

Im not going to supply you with a plot because a lot of reviews already did that. I will say I found the film to be very original and charming. The preformaces by the actors, especially Albert Brooks, are prefectly delivered in this material. In addition, I could not stop laughing at some of the brilliant comedy. It's much better then the gross-out sex gags seen everywhere in cinema today.

Some who see The Muse may not like it because they'll compare it to Brook's other films like Mother or Defending Your Life. But, on the off chance you do enjoy it, you will have found a sparkling comedy gem!

Rating:
Summary: I am not a-MUSEd
Review: I don't know why, but in appearance and manner Albert Brooks always seems to me the soothingly endearing, educated guy you see at American airports. Am I flying too often? In any case, this film, about a washed-up writer who gets help from a mysterious woman visitor, is not up to his usual standard. MOTHER, another recent one, is much better.


Rating:
Summary: Very pleasant, warm film, not without its originality...
Review: I enjoyed this film, but I must say right away that it is not funny as in "huh-huh, what a good line/a great joke...huh-huh". It is nice, pleasant, at times witty, but not overly funny. The best part of this film is the ending, which I could not have predicted in millions years...

Basically, this film is about one Hollywood writer, who is on the verge of mid-life crisis and writer's block, which is the result of the mid-life crisis.

Watch this film, even if you could care less about Hollywood writers and their problems. If for nothing else, watch this film to see Sharon Stone being stunningly gorgeous [as always], while constantly changing her amazing wardrobe!

Rating:
Summary: Brooks Strikes Again
Review: I first fell in love with the creative genius of Albert Brooks after first seeing "Defending Your Life." I watched and enjoyed "Mother" and now "The Muse." I think this film is right on with Brook's unique and enjoyable way of telling a story. The only reason this got 4 instead of 5 stars is the very ending of the movie. I won't say what it is here so as not to spoil it (because it was good), but it was just not the ending I was expecting...not as clever as I thought it would be.

This way a very good movie, an enjoyable journey.

Rating:
Summary: Lightweight, Boring and Transparent
Review: I had seen previews of this movie, off and on, over the years, and finally got to see it last week. It was a complete disappointment. The movie plot was shallow and disjointed. The dialogue was often pointless. Even the acting lacked inspiration. And, if ANY storyline required some kind of "spark", it would be a story about a modern-day MUSE. I barely made it through the entire movie, feeling as tho I was being dragged from one boring and transparent scene to the next. I was disappointed with the ending, as well. It wasn't really about the "mystical powers" of the muse, as much as it was about the sad and uninspired Mr. Brooks. I would not recommend this movie to anyone prefers something intelligent and interesting, be it a comedy or a drama. In my opinion, this movie was a huge waste of money, both in the making of it, as well as the cost to anyone who rents or purchases it.