A film can be autobiographical in a way its creator doesn’t like. At least, this is impression you might get from the basic premise of The Muse, 1999 comedy directed by Albert Brooks. In the film Brooks stars as Steven Phillips, once celebrated Hollywood screenwriter who appears past the zenith of his career. Lately the only honours he gets are lifetime achivement awards which are of little help when he gets fired from studio over “losing his edge”. In order to feed his family Steven asks his friend and colleague Jack Warrick (played by Jeff Bridges) for advice. Jack, who is, unlike Steven, still successful, explains that his secret is Sarah Little (played by Sharon Stone), attractive and mysterious woman who claims that she is daughter of Greek god Zeus, one of the Muses sent to the world to inspire the artists. After she meets Sarah and asks her to inspire him, Steven learns that he would have pay hefty price for it. Sarah, whether she is divine creature or not, appears accustomed to high life. After indulging all of Sarah’s desires and paying rooms in most luxurious hotels, Steven is forced to bring her to his home. There she actually inspires Steven’s wife Laura (played by Andie McDowell) who wants to start her own cooking business.
Made with small budget, The Muse at first glance looks like it could have been biting satire of Hollywood very much Altman’s The Player or, at least, valiant attempt like Bowfinger. Brooks, comedian, actor, writer and director who used to be called “Woody Allen of the West Coast” and had some decent works in his past like Defending Your Life, here creates exactly the same “high concept” product this film was supposed to mock. The Muse was supposed to be a comedy, but there are very few actual gags and most of the time Brooks believes audience will be entertained by watching his fictional alter ego feeling sorry for himself. The rest of the cast doesn’t look particularly inspired. That includes Andie McDowell, who appears for decorative purposes as well as Sharon Stone playing one of the least glamorous and least likeable characters of her career. Cinephiles are more likely to appreciate famous directors like Rob Reiner, Martin Scorsese and James Cameron in cameos playing themselves, but their presence isn’t likely to improve general impression of this film. When the weak and uninspired ending comes, most of the audience would wish that the real life muse visited Brooks.
RATING: 2/10 (-)
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/ Leofinance blog https://leofinance.io/@drax.leo
Unstoppable Domains: https://unstoppabledomains.com/?ref=3fc23fc42c1b417 Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax Bitcoin Lightning HIVE donations: https://v4v.app/v1/lnurlp/qrcode/drax Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax 1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
