The Muse (1999)

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Albert Brooks has got a writer's block. Sharon Stone as a muse promises him she will help him write a new best seller. Will it work and at what cost?Albert Brooks movies are known for it's laid back charm and tongue in cheek jokes. None other than Albert Brooks himself can play a whining "clown" better. He is sort of a Woody Allen type, constantly complaining and worrying, but all these troubles get delivered in funny oneliners.This comedy really is to die for. Lots of hilarious cameos by great directors like Martin Scorsese (Good Fellas) and James Cameron (Avatar). Jeff Bridges and Andie McDowwel play the supporting parts and I love them for it.Seen it multiple times now and the jokes stay fresh and funny thanks to excellent story written by the director/actor Albert Brooks himself. Especially recommended for hollywood moviegeeks.

Talky fantasy-comedy with the sardonic Albert Brooks playing a struggling screen-writer who re-discovers his mojo after he's introduced by buddy Jeff Bridges to a mysterious muse (Stone) who holds the power to inspire creativity and success - at a price.The only trouble I had with this picture were some of the performances, Brooks & Stone in particular, which seemed self-indulgent and more than a little sarcastic in their delivery of the wry dialogue. Bridges seems fairly sincere in his role as a journalist whose career nose-dive has been recovered by Stone's influence, while Andie MacDowell plays the neurotic Brooks' savvy wife with assurance, the two coming off as the film's more likable characters.It's an interesting concept and the script is full of smart one-liners in a very hit and miss affair; low key, a sort of "inside" Hollywood story that's perhaps more for the actors and the audience.

I remember going to the cinema to see this film back in 2000, being mildly entertained but underwhelmed by the end result, especially coming from someone who made one of the best comedies of the 1980s in 'Lost in America'.I had the chance to watch it again on cable today, and if anything, I was even less impressed with it the second time around. This is an occasionally amusing but generally uninspired and sometimes even dreary film. Its main downfall is that Brooks (as both actor, writer and director), has nothing new to say, and is still relying on the same stale old persona and situations that he used much more effectively back in 1985.There are some saving graces in the film: Sharon Stone is excellent in a tricky role, she avoids the easy trap of playing her role for laughs and in light of the revelation about her character at the end, her performance rings true.And the ending - where we learn that Stone isn't a muse but actually a person with mental issues who has been based in a sanitoraium - is an apt comment on the gullibility of Hollywood types who are so distanced from reality that they would actually seriously believe she was a muse. Jeff Bridges is also fine in his small role.Having said that, up until that revelation this is a very toothless satire on Hollywood. Brooks' character is also hard to take. He's doing his usual whiny persona but there's nothing in this film to suggest he has anything to whine about.Also, Andie McDowell fails to make much of an impression with her character. She's not helped by the relationship between her and Brooks being weakly written and not adding up to much.Probably most disappointing is how weak it is as a comedy. As an earlier reviewer noted, the scene where Brooks (as a punchline) ends up with a Waldorf salad all over his face is a very lazy and sitcomish moment that one expected Brooks had the talent to avoid. Another sign that the passion and purpose is ebbing away in his work.Another weak comic moment is towards the end where the Doctor and Nurse visibly crack up when they learn Brooks/MacDowell seriously believed that Stone was a muse. It's another lazy, unrealistic 'sitcom' attempt at humour - it's just not believable that a doctor would behave in such a manner. Something more subtle was required to be effective.While an OK timepasser, in the context of Brooks career trajectory this was a dispiriting disappointment.

This stinker rightly deserves to be in the bottom of the barrel. I have given a rating of 1 only to five movies ever (even Clone Wars doesn't get this honor), movies so repulsively bad your very will to live deteriorates (shallow blockbusters usually get away with at least a 3 or 4). This movie is a 1 if there ever was one.Let's get a few things straight. Barring that I haven't seen too many movies from the good ole 30's, 40's and 50's, this movie is the most sexist movie I have ever seen. If American males had any "equipment" they wouldn't have anything to do with any women that liked this movie, period! I don't even want to talk about guys who LIKED this movie. The basic premise is that men are incapable and should be treated like dirt, women are powerful and should do whatever the heck they want, norms of human decency aside, and that this is (supposed to be) cute and funny. Blah!Worst of all, the movie is just painfully dull. It is definitely not a guy flick, it is not even a chick flick (by its content it would definitely be a retarded 2-year-old flick). It is not a movie for anyone. Nothing of any significance happens in the movie. Pure boredom.The premise of the movie is simple, to understate it. A hapless scriptwriter struggles to come up with inspiration for a script. Being that he lives in a fairytale, he is talked into hiring a muse. Except, as one tentatively suspects, this muse is more spoiled than one-year-old milk and has expensive tastes, to put it mildly. So the confused and insecure scriptwriter wastes his life savings so that the muse can reside in a luxurious hotel and be properly stocked with crystal and caviar. The muse doesn't really do anything for him; her presence is supposed to inspire him. And just when you think this is segueway into the meat of the story it turns out that the movie never really moves anywhere from that point. Yeah, one more thing, the muse spreads the "virus" into the head of the writers wife and she gets the idea of emancipating herself from her husband by opening her baking factory (mwahahahaha!). Naturally, she is an instant hit. Oh, but the guy does somehow write his scenario in the end. This movie makes about as much sense as someone's invasion of Iraq.Cheers.Rating 1/10Scale: 10 MASTERPIECE, 9 Excellent, 8 Good, 7 OK, 6 Adequate, 5 Average, 4 Mediocre, 3 Poor, 2 Bad, 1 HORRIBLE