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Music
& Lyrics
(originally
posted by Jamie Kelwick at his own site -- www.the-usher.com.)
The
forgotten singer from the 80s music sensation 'Pop', Alex
Fletcher (Hugh Grant) makes a living playing school reunions
and fun fairs. Things begin to look up when the princess
of pop Cora Corman (Haley Bennett) asks him to write a song
for her new album. The problem is that Alex hasn't written
anything in ten years.
Struggling
with the lyrics, his plant carer Sophie (Drew Barrymore)
offers some suggestions that make Alex believe that she
could be the answer to his problems.
When
it comes to defining Hugh Grant's career, he will be quite
rightly hailed as the king of the romantic comedy, but is
that a good thing?
Grant
has been saying for years that he wants to move away from
the romantic comedy genre, but every time he tries to move
away he gets dragged back in. Music and Lyrics is a rom-com
by numbers and Hugh is very at home in the role of former
80s pop star Alex Fletcher. His only challenge for this
movie is something that we haven't seen him do before: sing.
As the
forgotten member of 80s sensations 'Pop', Hugh plays a character
much like Andrew Ridgley from 'Wham!', left behind as his
singing partner Colin Thompson went onto superstardom as
a solo artist. With the advent of reality TV and the fascination
with pop stars from the past, 80s icons are making a comeback
and even working with modern, popular artists. The premise
of the movie picks up on this new trend but only just works
as a movie.
The
main reason for the film working is the presence of Hugh
Grant and Drew Barrymore. Both performers are seasoned professionals
when it comes to this genre and 'Music and Lyrics' reveals
again why they are continually cast in these types of movies.
As the muse for Grant's Alex Fletcher, Drew's Sophie is
the usual slightly ditsy, a little bit weird but instantly
loveable and much like every other romantic comedy character
she has ever played.
This
isn't a bad thing for the movie but it does make you think
that, along with Hugh Grant, she is also been pigeon holed
into this genre. The pair is helped by good performances
from Kristen Johnston as Sophie's sister Rhonda and an eye-catching
performance from Haley Bennett as music super vixen Cora
Corman.
'Music
and Lyrics' is a romantic comedy by the numbers and brings
absolutely nothing new to the genre but it is still enjoyable.
This all because of the film's two extremely likeable stars
that make this movie just…nice.
Rating:
(for
the American perspective, click here)
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