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'.

"The Muse" from 1999 is an Albert Brooks film, starring Brooks, Sharon Stone, Andie MacDowell, Bradley Whitford, Mark Feuerstein, Jeff Bridges, and cameos by the likes of Wolfgang Puck, Rob Reiner, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Jennifer Tilly, Lorenzo Lamas, and others.

Brooks plays Steven Phillips, a Hollywood screenwriter who has written 17 films. When he goes to a meeting at Paramount, where he has a deal, he's basically told that they want him off the lot by 5 p.m., his deal is cancelled, he's lost his "edge", and his script is terrible. And by the way, so were the last couple of films.

Discouraged, and at his wife's (MacDowell's) suggestion, he goes and talks to his best friend Jack (Jeff Bridges) who explains that he used the services of a Muse, Sarah Little (Stone) for inspiration. He calls her for Steven and Steven rushes to see her.

Well, this Muse is an earthly pain in the you know what. Anyone who goes to see her has to bring a gift from Tiffany. She wants to be put up at the Four Seasons, have a limo at her disposal, and health foods purchased for her. She spends perhaps five minutes with Steven, who does get an idea for a script. Meanwhile, unable to sleep, she's moved into the guest house/office on his property. She's also turned his wife into the second Mrs. Fields by encouraging her to market her cookies.

Very funny comedy with the hapless Brooks nearly driven out of his mind by this woman. And the film has a delightful twist.

Someone mentioned the party Wolfgang Puck throws for Steven's wife (Puck is serving her cookies). Steven gets into a conversation with a man who can't understand English and misinterprets everything he says. It is hilarious.

This isn't considered Brooks' best, but given for what passes for comedy today, it's practically Pulitzer Prize material. Well worth seeing.

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.

Brooks, once a prominent screenwriter who's now neurotic and struggling after everyone starts telling him he's losing his edge, resorts to desperate means and acquires the services of a benevolent but bizarre and demanding muse (Stone) to try and recapture the essence of his onetime brilliance. However, his life is soon turned upside down by all of her awkward, off-the-wall methods of improvement. There's plenty of crisp dialogue, laugh-out loud moments, and amusing cameos to hold your attention, but the film is marred by too many comic gaps in the script. Still, it's a good way to pass the time, and their are some sharp observations of the Hollywood movie process. **½

Albert Brooks's The Muse may be under-rated, but I found it OK. Brooks has always made movies that are good for a feel-food time, and this is a good example. Brooks plays a troubled writer who needs help to get his edge, so he gets a Muse (Sharon Stone is not her best, but good at being annoying) who inspires to do things. Cute comedy has many cameos some movie buffs might find hilarious. I find it entertaining. Cameos include James F. Cameron, Jennifer Tilly, Rob Reiner, Steven Wright (not as himself but he gives the funniest part as Stan Spielberg) and in the best cameo of the year, Martin Scorsese as himself, who interests Brooks in a remake of Raging Bull "Thin and Angry." Worth a gander, but not as many laughs as Bowfinger. A