The Muse

The Muse
Directed by	Albert Brooks
Produced by	Herb Nanas
Written by	Albert Brooks Monica Johnson
Starring	Albert Brooks Sharon Stone Andie MacDowell Jeff Bridges Steven Wright
Music by	Elton John
Cinematography	Thomas Ackerman
Editing by	Peter Teschner
Distributed by	October Films
Release date(s)	August 27, 1999
Running time	97 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$15,000,000

The Muse is a 1999 film starring Albert Brooks and Sharon Stone.

Plot

After winning an award, esteemed screenwriter Steven Phillips (Brooks) is about to have a rude awakening. The studio has reneged on his deal and told him he's gone cold, saying he's lost his edge. Taken by surprise, the Oscar-nominated writer wants to find a way to get back to his talents. Through the advice of a screenwriter buddy (Bridges), Steven comes into contact with Sarah (Stone), a modern day muse who might be able to revitalize his seemingly fading career. But Sarah has conditions and only ones that can be met by unnecessary needs such as expensive hotel rooms and gifts from Tiffany's, and Steven has to meet good on those conditions even at the cost of swallowing his pride to do so. With his wife's chagrin, his friend's support and his agent waiting, Steven is about to find out whether or not the muse could be the real thing, or one that's sucking him dry of his patience. As Sarah's demands increase, Steven's wife begins to be drawn towards her, and through Sarah's encouragement decides to pursue her dream of baking and selling cookies. Sarah was eventually accepted into Steven's family and moved into their house. Steven, however, is becoming frustrated as now Sarah spends more time helping others (most notably his wife) than himself. One night she inspires him with an idea that enables him to get his script finished. The following morning two visitors come to Steven's home. They reveal that they are doctors from a clinic. They tell Steven and his family that Sarah is in fact not a muse, but an escaped psychiatric patient from their asylum, who has multiple personality disorder. They try to find Sarah however it is revealed that she has escaped via the window of Steven's bathroom. Steven submits his script to a film company, they love it but say that the idea has already been written. Steven, broken-hearted and down goes to work in his wife's new cookie store, until he receives a phone call—the studio prefers his version of the script and wants to purchase it. Steven goes over the studio's office when the secretary reveals that a new boss Christina has taken over. Christina is revealed to be Sarah. Grabbing Steven's arm, she insists that he take her out to lunch so they can discuss his script.

Soundtrack

Pop Rock musician Elton John composed the soundtrack for The Muse.

Cast

• Albert Brooks .... Steven Phillips
• Sharon Stone .... Sarah Little
• Andie MacDowell .... Laura Phillips
• Jeff Bridges .... Jack Warrick
• Mark Feuerstein .... Josh Martin
• Bradley Whitford .... Hal
• Steven Wright .... Stan Spielberg
• Jennifer Tilly .... Herself
• Rob Reiner .... Himself
• Wolfgang Puck .... Himself
• James Cameron .... Himself
• Martin Scorsese .... Himself
• Lorenzo Lamas .... Himself

Reception

The Muse was a box office flop grossing about $11 million domestically on an estimated budget of $15 million. The film did relatively poorly at the box office as compared to Brooks' other films such as Defending Your Life (1991) which made $16 million and Mother (1996) which made $19 million. Critical reception for the film was also low. Most notable critics who were fans of the film included Leonard Maltin and Roger Ebert. Other critics felt the film was "a movie with a bunch of notable cameos and that's it".

Bid for a Golden Globe nomination for Sharon Stone

In 1999, Helmut Voss, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, who give the annual Golden Globe Awards, ordered all 82 of its members to return gift luxury watches sent by either Sharon Stone or USA/October Films (now merged into Focus Features). The luxury watches were considered promotions for a nomination for Stone's performance in this film. According to Variety, Voss ordered the return of the gifts "to protect the integrity of its award".^[1]

See also

• The Muse Soundtrack, by Elton John.

References

External links

• The Muse at the Internet Movie Database
• The Muse at Allmovie
• The Muse at the TCM Movie Database
• The Muse at Rotten Tomatoes