"The Muse" treads the same landscape as "The Player", contemporary Hollywood in all it's supercilious, shallow glory. But while the "The Player" is a precise skewering of the hypocrisy and cruelty in Hollywood's executive suites, "The Muse" focuses on the problems of a single person, a whiny middle-aged screenwriter. Played by Albert Brooks, his specific problem that he 'has lost his edge', and is fired because of it. Into his life comes one of the mythic Muses, still alive and very real, to help him get it back. This is an interesting set-up, and should have made for a better movie than it is. Sharon Stone's portrayal of the Muse is one of the film's highlights. But the rest of the cast don't fare as well. Albert Brooks' portrayal of the schlub screenwriter is the same as all his characters, and has done much better in other films. Andie McDowell, as Brooks' wife, doesn't add anything, but doesn't take anything away either. It's not a bad movie, and it definitely has its moments. But Brooks has done better.
