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This comedy which was directed by, written by, and stars Albert
Brooks has a few funny moments and pokes some fun at Hollywood
but overall it is just a bit silly and tiresome.
Stephen Phillips (Brooks) is a screenwriter for Paramount who
has just won a Humanitarian Award but is now being dumped by
his studio and his agent because he has lost his 'edge'. Desperate
for some inspiration, he turns (as you do) to a modern day Muse
(Sharon Stone), a daughter of Zeus who has many of Hollywood's
most successful people as clients. The comedy twist comes from
all the whacky demands that she makes in return for the 'inspiration'
she provides.
Albert Brooks can be quite funny, and there are a few very
funny moments in this movie, like his conversation with the
inane 'foreigner' at Spago's or his meeting with Spielberg.
This movie also does well at poking fun at Hollywodd generally,
and some people in particular, especially James Cameron who
is the butt of at least two jokes, including a bizarre cameo
appearance. Cameos appearances are also made by the likes of
Martin Scorsese, Jennifer Tilly, Cybill Shepherd, and Rob Reiner.
Sharon Stone seems to relish her role as the playful yet demandingly
spoilt title character, while Andie McDowell plays Phillip's
wife, a strange character who is amazingly understanding of
her husband's mysterious initial meetings with this unknown
new woman.
Aside from those few funny moments, I found the movie to be
just plain silly, and I quickly tired of Brook's delivery style
which ranges from deadpan cynicism to sarcastic exasperation.
For much better examples of this style of acting, see Bill Murray.
The plot was pretty daft, especially the way that everyone accepted
the idea of a Muse right from the start. I know that part of
the point of the movie was to show how gullible people in Hollywood
can be but the point would have been made more strongly if at
least one of the key characters had shown a bit more rational
disbelief. To top it all off, the weak ending seemed to be too
much of a cop-out.
A clever idea for a movie, with some humourous scenes, but
overall mostly pretty weak.
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