Movie Review: Music and Lyrics
Music and Lyrics is a fluff romantic comedy made nice by Hugh Grant’s usual appeal and a bunch of nice songs that were written especially for the movie.
Formulaic is the idea here, but even with formulaic movies there are bad ones, mediocre ones, enjoyable ones, and great ones. This is not a great one, but it’s enjoyable, with no wrong moves, ridiculous hysteria or major plot problems.
Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant) is a lyricist and the other half of a musical duo that had a few pop hits in the eighties. Obviously based on the story of Wham and George Michael, his ex-childhood friend and partner dumped him when the opportunity came to make it big as a solo artist.
Fifteen years later he’s given the opportunity to write a song for one of the hottest and stupidest female performers (Haley Bennett) on the planet, a Britney-like singer who’s heavily into what can only be described as sleazy Buddhism and who apparently thinks that the Dalai Lama is actually a llama. Only he needs a lyricist, since he only knows how to write the tunes.
Guess what undiscovered talent his new, cute, but ditsy hired plant-waterer (Drew Barrymore) turns out to possess? (A clue: it’s not a propensity for taking care of plants.)
What saves the movie from mediocrity is the appealing performance of Hugh, who is his usual charming self, and a host of pretty good songs written especially for the movie. You will probably find yourself humming or singing the theme song after the movie is done.
Amazingly enough, Hugh, Drew, and Haley do all of their own singing for the film, and they’re all pretty good.