A Musa

Albert Brooks makes a Decent Attempt with his 1999-comedy 'The Muse'. Its a light-hearted film, that doesn't tax your brains.

'The Muse' is a comedy about a neurotic screenwriter & his modern-day muse.

'The Muse' is entertaining, but only in portions. While the first-hour is funny & well-paced, the second-hour takes a dip. The Writing isn't tight, nor is the pace. Brooks's Screenplay succeeds in the first-hour, but later-on, everything slows down. Brooks's Direction, on the other-hand, is very well-done.

Performance-Wise: Brooks can never be doubted as an actor. He's exceptional, as always. Sharon Stone enacts the nagging/materialistic chick delightfully well. Andie MacDowell is natural to the core. Jeff Bridges is winsome in a cameo. Martin Scorsese & James Cameron are fun in one-scene appearances.

On the whole, If you want to get Amused...Watch 'The Muse'.

Albert Brooks is funny. He has an interesting and unique way of telling story with humor, wit and sincerity. He is not afraid of appearing to be 'un-hip'. Actually that is the charm of most of his work. He has been compared to Woody Allen but I

think that his work is much more universal. Woody's giant persona gets in the way of his stories whereas Brooks actually becomes a character. He does not

play himself and does not comment of things. He 'plays' characters like a real actor. The Muse is just as brilliant as Defending Your Life and Across America. Andie MacDowell is good when a good script guides her. Sharon Stone was

made for the role of the Muse. Her energy is sexy, ditzy as well as forceful. There are some cameos in this movie that are priceless and lend an air of

authenticity to the side of Hollywood that most people have no access to. I have seen this movie a hundred times and it never fails to make me laugh.

Brooks is the West-Coast doppelganger of Woody Allen, despite the fact that he's about twenty years younger & takes on characters decidedly white-bread Middle American Gentile. All of Brooks' movies are about him entering a critical transition period of life (or death). Like Allen's films, his variations on this familiar theme range in quality. 'The Muse' is a solid effort. Most Brooks films have funny zingers; this one has a whole filmful plus a clever story to boot, and a big-budget cast. The more you know about Hollywood and the motion picture industry (I recommend 'The Big Picture' by Epstein), the more true-to-life you understand the film to be, and thus the funnier the jokes become.

I'm not sure why it did poorly, and reading others' comments yields little insight. All I can say is that Brooks is never a fully sympathetic character--he is always at least partly to blame for his predicament--never quite the "aw-shucks" underdog. At least this time he and Johnson introduce other characters who are even more sympathetic to generate audience goodwill. Not to mention that the two leading ladies are both stunningly good-looking. Plus the whole Hollywood self-referencing is a lot of fun. Bottom line is, I believe that this is among the best of Albert Brooks' films. It has many winning qualities which permit it to transcend the Brooks formula. It shares a certain affinity with another wry comedy, "Being There"; both are stories about people being drawn in by the mysterious among us.

Albert Brooks' new comedy has again big names: Sharon Stone (as The Muse / Sarah), Andie MacDowell (as Laura) and Jeff Bridges (Jack).

The plot: Steven (Albert Brooks), has a difficult period in his life... no, he isn't sick or his marriage isn't breaking down (well not so far...) no, he lost his inspiration and that is what he needs for being a good screenwriter. He needs help and he asks a very good friend (played by Jeff Bridges) to give him a solution. Sarah, one of 9 muses is the best way to give him inspiration, but she is difficult muse, she has her quirks from time to time and sadly for Steven, her quirks are very expensive... but at least she gives him inspiration. Laura, the wife of Steven gets also inspiration from Sarah. She starts a little cookie -company. The rows between Steven and Laura begin to reach its peak. Then begins the fight for "the Muse"...

This movie wasn't great, but it was worth watching... my opinion is that every movie has something special and this also the case for this one...

Certainly the performance of SHARON STONE was wonderful, she is the best muse that I ever saw... I hope she continues to make movies after a stop for 2 years... lets hope that her health is good enough to carry on... ALBERT BROOKS was good as an actor, but sometimes the script didn't please me that much, probably the script that he is writing in the movie is better then the script of the movie. I hope that his upcoming movie with MICHAEL DOUGLAS will be a little bit better. ANDIE MACDOWELL was good to but she doesn't make a lot of movies... but I think it was very difficult to make something remarkable from her personage. JEFF BRIDGES was remarkable too; well he has the talent of his father Lloyd Bridges.

SPECIAL THINGS about the movie: 1. THE CAMEOS from Martine Scorcese (director from "The Gangs of New York) Rob Reiner (director from "The Story of Us" (see my review) James Cameron (director from Titanic) Also Jennifer Tilly and Lorenzo Lamas get a part in the movie as well. 2. The music from ELTON JOHN

WELL IT IS MAYBE NOT A HIGHFLYER BUT IT IS AMUSING FROM TIME TO TIME... GO AND SEE IT

Rating: 7,5 / 10 or **1/2 out of ****

Albert Brooks at his best. Very very funny. The short appearances of James Cameron and Martin Scorcese are hilarious, but the best laugh I had in years was the short conversation of Albert Brooks (Steven) with Mario Opinato (European man) at the party. Although it already passed 30 minutes from that scene I was still laughing, and still do whenever I think of it. Despite Brooks latter works, The Muse is somewhat inferior, but still hilarious... and what´s the point in a comedy? To make people laugh, and I sure did laugh with this one.