Muse

This was a movie that I had the pleasure of seeing when the film company behind it reached out asking if I was interested in watching it for a review. Since I enjoy seeing more of the independent movies, I agreed and was sent a screener. It has an interesting premise as well that is grounded in mythology, which I'm also a fan of. The synopsis though is a painter's life is changed forever when a mythical and deadly spirit from Celtic lore becomes his muse and lover.

We start with two guys that have a flat tire on their truck. They're stranded in the middle of nowhere. One of them goes out in the woods as he hears something. It is there he encounters an emaciated man with a harmonica.

The movie takes us to a dream sequence where we see a woman's eyes and we get a flash of her. This is our main character of Adam (Riley Egan). He is a struggling painter who lives in a studio apartment. He has a crush on the girl across the way, Maria (Kate Mansi). He is lacking in his confidence though. Something I liked here is that we get quite a bit of it through facial reactions as well as a scene where his landlord informs him his rent has gone up and he needs it now. His landlord is Lance (Phil Abrams). We get an interesting duality here though is a new resident Hector (Max Decker) bullies Lance.

Adam goes up to the roof where Hector gives him a proposition to help inspire him. He believes you can't sit up on the roof like he's doing if he wants to be great. There's an interesting aspect here where Hector shows a tattoo he has on his forearm of a tree that Adam drew in his sketchpad before they met. Hector tells Adam he can make some money if he drives him that night and it just takes 2 hours.

As Adam heads back to his room, he bumps into Maria. She sees his sketchpad and notices a drawing of her. She invites him to a local gallery where a showing is happening. Adam agrees to come, partly for her and for the networking opportunity. It is there we meet Maria's boyfriend, Jason Block (Lou Ferrigno Jr.). It is his showing and he's quite arrogant. This encounter doesn't help Adam's self-esteem. It isn't all bad though as he runs into Valerie (Jennie Fahn). She's the owner and she can see something in him. He just needs to find his muse.

He goes home and that night he sees Maria and Jason hooking up through the window. This pushes Adam to seek out Hector about his proposition. They drive to the middle of nowhere and it turns out that Hector is a drug dealer. Adam is his driver. While he's waiting, he goes out into he woods. He hears something, but when there's yelling as the deal goes bad, they flee. They don't get far when Adam sees the woman from his dream. He spins out causing Hector to freak out. He ends up shooting at the woman.

Once again, Adam wakes up in his apartment. There is also a new painting in his room of the woman he saw the night before. The woman then appears in his room. Hector is upset when he learns that she is at his place, since she saw what he did. This isn't just an ordinary woman though. Valerie calls her Leannán Sí. Is she real or just in Adam's head?

Now that's where I want to leave my recap, I think that leaves the jist of what we're working with here. To go back to what I said earlier, when I first saw the title, I was excited as I like mythology. From my understanding there are muses in Greek and probably Roman mythology as there's a lot of cross-over there. It wasn't until watching this movie that I learned they are also in Celtic history. I shouldn't be surprised as there is a lot of overlapping and the many of the stories have their variations. One of my favorite characters becomes Valerie for the reason of sharing this information to progress things.

My first real introduction to what a muse was though was from the Albert Brooks' film The Muse starring Sharon Stone. I then learned about them from class and me just doing my own research. I like what they do with here though and expanding more to the Celtic history of them. The Leannán Sí will kill anyone who tries to come between her and the one that she is latched on to. Now I make it sound bad. Adam or any other artist is drawn to her, it helps them proceed the best work of their lives, but they just live short spans for that greatness. They also get to have sex with her, which as a male, good for them. This does play some interesting things with those that try to get in her way or his way in the movie.

Something else I found interesting is that we get a look at the art community. Now clearly if you follow me, you know I love film and I do have some pretentious taste at times. The painting community from everything I've seen in movies isn't for me. I'd say this is up there with Velvet Buzzsaw in presenting this as well.

Since we're talking about the community, I'll shift this over to the acting. I think they did a really good job in the performances across the board. I'm really impressed with Egan and his ability to convey a lot with his body language and facial expressions. He looks defeated and no self-confidence until he meets the Leannán Sí. From there it is such a change. I was impressed with Evans in that role as well. She is nude quite a bit and I'm thankful for that. She doesn't have any lines though so again, all through facial and body expression. Mansi is also quite attractive. My only issue is that I feel like she is coming on to Adam from the beginning. We see that her boyfriend is a jerk so I guess it is possible, but it feels a bit off. I do think though that low key, Fahn really steals the show as the best character for what she does for Adam and providing the mythology. Decker, Ferrigno, Abrams and the rest of the cast rounded this out for was needed as well.

Really the last thing to cover would the effects and how things are edited together. Most of the deaths we get are done off-screen which is fine. I think many of them are just the same thing repeatedly. The blood looks good though. We do get to see some people stabbed with a painting tool which works. It is a bit unbelievable what Adam does with the bodies; I do have to admit that. If I do have an issue, we use way too many dream sequences. That is a troupe that is played out in my opinion. I think the editing is fine, but that is just where my issue comes from.

Now with that said, I came in not sure what to expect with this movie and ended up really enjoying it. I thought it has a solid little premise that is grounded in mythology and what they do with it works. There's not a lot to the story and I think a lot of what works here is the acting. I think that Egan, Evans and Fahn are all good. The rest are solid in support. There aren't a lot in the way of effects, but it doesn't need them and the soundtrack fits for what was needed. Just lacking some aspects to be good in my opinion, but I'd say that this is an above average film for sure. I would recommend it as well.

Couldn't even make it 5 min in. Should have read reviews. The Amazon description sounded interesting but belies the reality. Bummer.

I do not agree with a low rating. This film looks like a third-rate drama at first, but the chosen topic and how it was presented deserves a normal average rating. This film made me surf the Internet for looking for other similar films, about the relationship between people and fairies, etc.

Directing: 4 /Acting: 4 /Story: 5 /Production values: 5 /Suspence - Thriller level: 8 /Action: none /Mystery - unknown: 7 /Romance level: 8 /Comedy elements: none

It's a bit of a rough start as the movie throws a lot at us in the first twenty minutes without significant or clear plot to go with it. (Props for the unmistakable theme established early on, though, that all landlords are trash and should be abolished.) Once the narrative does pick up, and protagonist Adam becomes involved one way or another with the unnamed leannán sí, the picture is wonderfully enticing. 'Muse' presents us with a mixture of fantasy, horror, romance, drama, and thriller, and while one vibe may take precedence at certain points, overall it's very well balanced - and importantly, filmmaker John Burr never loses sight of prioritizing the narrative. Given such variety and mindfulness in the storytelling, it's easy to rather fall in love with this; I think it's pretty great!

I appreciate that while the concept of muses are most famous as they appear in Greek mythology, many cultures have their own take, and it's with the Irish strain that Burr found inspiration here. The story may be familiar in the broad strokes, but that doesn't mean a new rendition can't be worthy of its own merits, and there's sufficient worthy detail rounding out those broad strokes as to make this a splendid watch. If not terribly deep, there's enough personality given to the characters to help each stand out and give form to the tale, and the scene writing that pieces the saga together is solid all around. To that point, the subtle arc of the protagonist is just as rich as the abject horror violence, adding another layer to the tableau. And on that note, the cast is swell; above all, both Riley Egan (Adam) and Elle Evans (the leannán sí) inhabit their roles with gratifying nuance that goes a long way to making 'Muse' work as well as it does.

The blood and gore looks terrific, along with other effects, stunts, and action-oriented sequences. I'm a big fan of the production design and art direction. Special commendations to Jennifer Lauren Friedman - credited with creating the paintings seen in the film, her work is outstanding and I'd love to see more of it. Why, all the contributions of those behind the scenes are unimpeachable, from costume design and hair and makeup, to lighting, editing, and cinematography. Burr demonstrates keen command of the medium as director, complementing his sound screenplay, and I adore Alexander Rudd's score, an array of electronic themes that somewhat recalls John Carpenter as they range from hushed and thoughtful to harsh and aggressive.

Honestly, from every angle 'Muse' is very well made. Both in terms of the production and the entertainment value it's considerably better than I'd have ever expected for a feature of this tenor - which is to say, the sort that one probably won't hear of or come across save by chance, or browsing various streaming sites. It's actually rather unfortunate that this has so low visibility, I think, as I'd say it's so well done as to deserve more recognition. Sure, as a matter of personal preference it won't appeal to everyone, but as both writer and director I admire Burr's handiwork, and cast and crew alike all did a fine job on this. It may not be an absolute must-see, but I certainly enjoyed it - and, having watched at an hour when I'd usually be passing out from exhaustion, this kept me awake and attentive, and I think that alone says much. Suffice to say that if you have a chance to watch 'Muse,' I think it's well worth ninety minutes!