"The Muse" from 1999 is an Albert Brooks film, starring Brooks, Sharon Stone, Andie MacDowell, Bradley Whitford, Mark Feuerstein, Jeff Bridges, and cameos by the likes of Wolfgang Puck, Rob Reiner, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Jennifer Tilly, Lorenzo Lamas, and others.
Brooks plays Steven Phillips, a Hollywood screenwriter who has written 17 films. When he goes to a meeting at Paramount, where he has a deal, he's basically told that they want him off the lot by 5 p.m., his deal is cancelled, he's lost his "edge", and his script is terrible. And by the way, so were the last couple of films.
Discouraged, and at his wife's (MacDowell's) suggestion, he goes and talks to his best friend Jack (Jeff Bridges) who explains that he used the services of a Muse, Sarah Little (Stone) for inspiration. He calls her for Steven and Steven rushes to see her.
Well, this Muse is an earthly pain in the you know what. Anyone who goes to see her has to bring a gift from Tiffany. She wants to be put up at the Four Seasons, have a limo at her disposal, and health foods purchased for her. She spends perhaps five minutes with Steven, who does get an idea for a script. Meanwhile, unable to sleep, she's moved into the guest house/office on his property. She's also turned his wife into the second Mrs. Fields by encouraging her to market her cookies.
Very funny comedy with the hapless Brooks nearly driven out of his mind by this woman. And the film has a delightful twist.
Someone mentioned the party Wolfgang Puck throws for Steven's wife (Puck is serving her cookies). Steven gets into a conversation with a man who can't understand English and misinterprets everything he says. It is hilarious.
This isn't considered Brooks' best, but given for what passes for comedy today, it's practically Pulitzer Prize material. Well worth seeing.
