= 4 stars

Starring Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore
Directed by Martin Lawrence

Amazon Link

I sometimes feel that romantic comedies are a mix-and-match affair, meaning, choose from the following women who can cry on-screen (Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Kate Hudson, Jennifer Lopez, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston) and pair with a sensitive-man (Mark Ruffalo, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Tom Hanks, Zach Braff, Keanu Reeves). Then follow the list of romantic movie cliches, and profit!

So Music And Lyrics is the partnering of Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant, both romantic comedy regulars (The Wedding Singer and Notting Hill). Of course, know what you’re getting into. This is not a cerebral exercise into the future of mankind or drug-trafficking in Afghanistan. That said, for what it is, Music And Lyrics delivers. What’s interesting is how the blossoming romance ends up playing second fiddle to a lot of funnier stuff.

Note: I must admit, as a thirty-something who thought some of the best parts of The Wedding Singer were the 80s references, I’m right in the center of the demographic this film was targeted for.

Hugh Grant plays Alex Fletcher, the second singer in the fictional 80s band “Pop”. After Wham! and Duran Duran level success, Alex is now a has-been, performing at amusement parks and Class of 1987 high-school reunions. Grant is excellent in this dejected role, looking like a cuter Roger Daltrey in tight pants and puffy shirts. He has credible stage presence, albiet with a few dated signature moves. Most amusing is a world-weary cynicism peppered with dry, sarcastic quips that make sense for this character, likely built up after touring the world and sitting through one too many boring interviews.

But Alex has a chance at a “big comeback” - writing a song for Cora Corman (Haley Bennett), a teenage mega-star amalgam of Britney, Christina Aguilera, and Shakira. Her signature moves include dancing in an outfit resembling strategically placed duct tape, videos of veritable orgies, and shameless appropriation of east-Asian religions for stage props. Some of the funniest scenes feature the confused Alex, struggling to make sense of how pop music has changed in the past twenty years, leaving him with skinny ties, a flop solo album, and op-art music videos. It almost makes one wonder, why exactly does he want to get back into this game?

Anyhow, Alex can write music, but not lyrics, so he enlists Sophie (Drew Barrymore), his plant-caretaker to the task. It’s revealed that Sophie was an aspiring writer, but lost the drive following a messy affair with a college professor. Like Alex, she struggles with the past and her place in a world that seems to have moved on.

Other characters also groove to a funny beat of time / drum machine-itis. Sophie’s older sister Rhonda (Kristen Johnston) dwells in that mid-aged, parenting, sleep deprived mode but instantly turns into a hysterical teenage fan when she learns of Sophies’s new project. I also found myself chuckling at Rhonda’s domesticated husband’s (Adam Grupper) fuzzed-out reaction to all this (or lack thereof).

But eventually, the obvious conflict that drives Alex and Sophie apart must arise. In a pretty cynical moment, he informs her that music is a crass business - a popularity contest. Sophie is still the younger, aspiring writer with idealistic notions about the purpose of her talent. Eventually, in true romantic comedy form, this sour note is resolved, in a thankfully economic fashion.

The last item of note is the music, and the spotlight on the songwriting process. I frankly found much of these sequences cheesy and a bit simplistic - a rhyme isn’t necessarily a good lyric (note the awful “Love Autopsy”). However, the film does document the struggle and pressure of going from inspiration to product in a mere week. There’s one bit where Alex dutifully realizes the song that’s in his head while creating a demo which I found personally inspiring.

Thankfully, the pivotal song that Alex and Sophie write for Cora is actually quite good, albeit on a Shania Twain level. But this is certainly intentional. The songs written by Alex are supposed to be good enough that they’re credible, but bad enough to be funny, yet not stepping into satire. All the songs fit the film’s tone, the particular musicians they’re assigned to, and the time period they live in or came from, which is notable. Essentially, the song written for Cora sounds exactly like one an 80s pop star would write for a Britney, yet still strong enough to provide the emotional juice the plot requires at that point.

The worst song is the one Alex writes without his lyricist. It made me want to scribble out all the words and hand them over to Sophie to rework. But I think that was the point. And for that embarrassment that he’s a lesser musician without a partner, to come across in a pop song, is well, quite smartly entertaining.

IMDB: Music and Lyrics
Wikipedia: Music and Lyrics
Rotten Tomatoes: Music and Lyrics 65%

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Categories: 4 Star Movies, Movies :: Tags: 4 stars, Drew Barrymore, Hugh Grant, Martin Lawrence :: Trackback URL
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