I have heard next to nothing on this film till now, and it sounds.... hmmmmm well, you tell me.

Hey Harry.... A little birdy told me you might be interested in hearing about my escapades this last Saturday night... so here we go...

It all started Friday night when the boyfriend and I trekked out to Century City to see A Simple Plan. A certain evil genius had invited me to go see The Faculty and I would have been up for that... only it fell through... but that's a whole different story. Boyfriend and I decide to go early, seeing as A Simple Plan wasn't city wide yet. We get in line and one of those friendly-pesky test screening hybrid people comes up to us... "Wanna see a screening?" "What is it?" we ask. (Boyfriend is still scared it will be that Beowulf disaster with Chris Lambert... or whatever the smack it was.) "Well, it's the new Albert Brooks movie, starring Mr. Brooks, Sharon Stone, Andie MacDowell and Jeff Bridges... at the Warner Bros lot in Burbank." Oh, my little droogies, even if I HADN'T been interested, boyfriend heard "Warner Bros lot" and all was history. Cute little pecker didn't grow up here in L.A. Lots are supremely cool to him. And okay, it was kinda neat for me too.

So, Saturday night... stayed up too late Friday night... didn't really feel like driving to Burbank... off we go anyway. Get WAAAAY lost (I can get lost in a casino) which wasn't improving my mood. We get there a little over an hour early and the line has already begun to assemble. We move into it and amongst the morons milling about going, "Who's Andie MacDowell?", there was actually one guy who had been to a lot of screenings and could hold an intelligent conversation about film. He'd seen Boogie Nights in a screening and was telling us about cut scenes. Cool.

Alright, so... finally, we're admitted into Screening Room 12. Rather smallish, rather oldish. Still cool. The movie screening dude (do they pay these guys to be as oafish as possible?) comes out to introduce the film. Says what we'll be watching is nearly a completed print, it simply doesn't have ending credits. And he doesn't ask us to stay seated afterwards or anything. A screening with no survey afterwards. Tres nifty.

Movie, which is called "The Muse" by the way, starts. Since there was no description of the film on the screening pass, we were going in blind. I've found that sometimes, that's the best way to see a film. This was one of those times. I was delighted to find that the film was about a screenwriter in Hollywood (Brooks) who hits a rough spot in his career and struggles to make it again. The perfect opportunity for charming and delightful (and in most cases, hilariously funny) cameos. Jennifer Tilly, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Rob Reiner, Lorenzo Lamas, Wolfgang Puck... these are the ones I'm remembering offhand.

Without giving too much away, Stone plays a modern day muse... (you know, as in the daughters of Zeus)... who has been behind the scenes helping Hollywood power players to make their best decisions for the past few years. Brooks learns of her existence from his successful writer friend Jack (Bridges) and decides that she is just what he needs to help him get back on top.

Brooks delivers exactly what you want and expect him to deliver... he's in top form here... as a writer, as a director and as a performer. His timing is impeccable. Andie MacDowell, as his wife, is adequate. And Bridges, in the supporting role, doesn't have a whole lot to do. But he's Jeff Bridges, so you love him anyway. It's Stone here who is the real marvel. I have never thought Stone was much of an actress. This film doesn't really change that opinion, but it does make me like her more. She's not a phenomenal actress in this film, she's just LOADS of fun. With very few exceptions, Stone commands every scene she's in. She's breezy, she's kooky, she's utterly likeable.

Having come into this film in a rather pissy mood, I left with an enormous smile on my face. I found every aspect of it to be charming and delightful. Those lil Hollywood jabs didn't hurt neither. And it sent a very sly and memorable message across to boot. I found myself constantly remembering why I liked Albert Brooks so much in the first place. One scene in particular... involving Brooks and a man who wasn't understanding English all that well... vintage Brooks... and one of the funniest scenes I've seen on screen in a long long time. I wasn't told when this was coming out, so be on the look out for it. Oh, and FYI... boyfriend loved it too.

Call me Wendy Kroy.