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| Directed by Albert Brooks; Starring Albert Brooks, Sharon Stone, Andie MacDowell, Jeff Bridges, Mark Feuerstein, Steven Wright, and Bradley Whitford |
Just two weeks after I praise Bowfinger for bringing me a funny Hollywood satire, I am again treated to a comedy on the Hollywood system that works. Where is the year going?
One director that I continually come to acknowledge in the realm of under appreciated directors is Albert Brooks. His biting humor and satirical edge give more to the written page than anything that John Waters could dream of. Two years ago he brought out Mother which would be my choice for the best film of the year for four months. Best known for acting in such greats as Broadcast News and Taxi Driver, Brooks’ style of comedy is always a treat to see whenever he directs and writes a film. The Muse is another success for Brooks, though nothing near the comic magnitude of Mother (perhaps this film just needed some Debbie Reynolds).
The Muse is about a screenwriter (Brooks) that loses his touch with the scripts that are wanted. He goes to producers and agents, but his luck does not change until he has a talk with a fellow screenwriter (Bridges) that is now having a period of overwhelming artistic productivity. The secret to the friend’s newly found work is that he has a modern day muse (Stone), a woman that can open him up to all his abilities just by being near. The idea of reviving his career is great news, but there is one problem: this muse is very expensive. She expects gifts with every meeting, a hotel to her asking, food at the drop of a hat, someone to drive her everywhere… Since this will cause more money to come in, he is fine with this deal at first. But then the muse begins to take her charm away from him and to others in need ranging from directors of great note (and I’m not talking about James Cameron) to his wife (MacDowell). Now he must fight with others just to get the opportune time to spend time with his muse.
Brooks is on top form in the performance category, but his problems are in his screenplay. The film is funny and worth seeing, but Brooks seemed to have an idea without any real idea of how to end it. The ending is a bit of a disappointment for such a film. Still there is one reason to see this film that goes beyond anything that could ever make a film worth seeing: it features a cameo appearance from the greatest living director in the best acting turn any director has ever done (though this fellow has acted on many previous occasions). Even if he was not in it, though, I would still recommend The Muse simply for its funny first hour and forty-five minutes.
