"The Muse" has a promising premise. Steven Phillips (Albert Brooks) is a formerly successful but now struggling screenwriter. Desperate for inspiration, he follows the advice of fellow writer Jack (Jeff Bridges and hires Sarah (Sharon Stone), who claims to be a muse and the daughter of Zeus. While Sarah indeed inspires, she also aggravates. Her demands cost Steven first his savings, then his privacy as she moves in with him and his family. Sarah inspires Steven's wife Laura (Andie MacDowell) to launch a career as a cook, an immediate success that serves to further humiliate Steven.
The film's biggest handicap is Brooks' character,
a hard-luck fellow who labors under a steady stream
of insults and slights. His response is to whine,
which he does throughout the film. Now and then,
Brooks the writer gives Brooks the actor a good line,
but mostly one wishes that he had more testosterone.
Stone's character is well developed, but Bridges and
even MacDowell are mostly just there. When Steven
and Laura have an argument in a health food store,
not only is it one of the best scenes, but perhaps
the only time when they actually seem to be in a
marriage. Their two young daughters are barely
present.
Several famous directors have cameos. Martin Scorcese,
James Cameron and Rob Reiner are also clients of
Sarah, dutifully giving her presents and asking her
advice. Like seeing someone who normally wears glasses
and has just taken them off, seeing Cameron and Scorcese
on this side of the camera seems odd, and their
acting amounts to half-coherent jabbering. Of course,
they are spoofing their own reputed self-importance,
but the effect is not to impress, but to distract us
from the main storyline. In-jokes about "Titanic",
"Raging Bull" and "Taxi Driver" just don't work here.
There is a funny scene involving Brooks and a
thick-headed caterer, who apparently has never
seen a movie. Another good joke has Brooks with
a salad dumped on his face: serves him right for
being such a spineless whiner. But the occasionally
good scene does not completely save "The Muse". (43/100)
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