The idea behind the story is that a number of successful filmmakers in Hollywood (cameos include James Cameron, Martin Scorsese, and Rob Reiner) and the occasional restaurant impresario (Wolfgang Puck) turn to a muse (Sharon Stone) for inspiration when they are creatively blocked. In return for her services she is, unfortunately, high maintenance: it is necessary to wait on her hand and foot and provide gifts (preferably from Tiffanys). And, of course, there's doubt regarding whether Stone is the real thing, a superlative con artist, or crazy.

The film begins with Brooks receiving a humanitarian award (itself a joke) and then discovers that he's out of a job when his latest action adventure script is viewed as flat by the producer. There's some pointed humor here, too, where no one can seem to tell him what's really wrong, and Brooks does a great job of capturing the useless advice given by film producers who clearly could care less about what happens to him and who can't even remember the title of that one screenplay Brooks wrote years ago nominated for an Oscar. In desperation, Brooks turns to a fellow, more successful screenwriter played by Jeff Bridges. Bridges confesses that he employs the use of a muse when he is bereft of ideas. Brooks is soon schlepping around, running errands for Sharon Stone while putting her up at the Four Seasons Hotel and waiting for inspiration to strike while his wife (Andie MacDowell) becomes increasingly suspicious.

This film is too sweet natured to skewer the industry like Altman's "The Player" but doesn't build enough comic steam to succeed on its own terms, culminating in an all too obvious ending. One scene is exceeding creepy, when Brooks thinks he's meeting with Steven Spielberg. There's some flashes of humor here as Brooks has to walk what seems to be miles for the meeting. But when he finally makes it, it turns out that it's Spielberg's cousin Stan (played by Steven Wright, the standup comic who, by the way, actually won an Oscar for a short film he made several years ago). Wright's deadpan advice is enough to make your skin crawl. But there are a few laugh out loud scenes, particularly when Brooks cuts through the crap that people are trying to feed him or as he suffers to meet the muse's particular and demanding requests. There is also a great dinner party scene where Brooks has a fractured English conversation with someone who misunderstands everything Brooks says.

Some of the jokes really depend on knowing movie trivia. For example, when Brooks runs into Scorsese who frantically wants to meet with the muse. Scorsese says that he wants to remake "Raging Bull" with a thin (and angry) guy. One of the stories about "Raging Bull" was that De Niro gained 60 pounds to play Jake La Mota in his declining years, something that many people may not know. But Brooks is smart and gets a good laugh when he cautions the hyper Scorsese against having any more caffeine for the day. Rob Reiner thanks the muse for "The American President." And in one of the most subtle movie references I have ever seen, when James Cameron gives a boxed gift to the muse, mentioning that he used his "Titanic" bonus to buy it, Stone points to her neck, suggesting/asking if he is giving her the necklace worn by Kate Winslet in the film. When he shakes his head, she slams the door on him.

If you're a bit of a movie buff, you'll get a little more mileage out of the humor, but, while the idea of a Hollywood muse is a great one, and there are several laugh out loud scenes, the execution is slight, making you feel that the potential was barely mined.