Grant has the occasional good line (or at least he makes a few of them seem funny), but the film limps along like someone trying to tap dance in flippers.
Music and Lyrics (2007)
Rated: PG
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins
Theatrical Release: 09-02-2007
Synopsis: Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant) is a cynical and self-deprecating former pop idol (the hilarious opening video introduces his '80s new wave band Pop!) who is now playing the nostalgia circuit, but has maintained enough dignity to turn down an appearance on a "Battle of the '80s Has-Beens" TV... Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant) is a cynical and self-deprecating former pop idol (the hilarious opening video introduces his '80s new wave band Pop!) who is now playing the nostalgia circuit, but has maintained enough dignity to turn down an appearance on a "Battle of the '80s Has-Beens" TV reality show. Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore) is a gifted writer with deep inferiority issues who's been hired to water Fletcher's plants, and ends up becoming his emergency fill-in lyricist for a song he needs to deliver to teen queen singer Cora (Haley Bennett) in four days. Despite this contrived "cute meet," the film, to its great credit, deftly avoids many possible rom-com tropes in favor of organic, character-driven conflicts and comic situations. Alex and Sophie fall in love, struggle over their song, and wrestle with their own respective resistance to romantic happiness, while simultaneously coping with the frustrations of the creative process and the demands of the music industry. The two leads (aided by great comic sidekick turns from Brad Garrett and Kristen Johnston) manage to pull all this off with a lightness of touch that makes the characters' vulnerability appealing and not pathetic. The original songs by Adam Schlesinger (the go-to guy for singer-songwriter film music) is charming and catchy. [More]
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Musicians, Relationships, Singers, Composers
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Hugh Grant, Brad Garrett, Kristen Johnston, Campbell Scott
DVD Info
Release:
Jul 6, 2008
DVD Features:
- Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
- Dolby Surround 5.1 English, French, Latin Spanish
- Stereo 2S
Reviews
The leads show all the sexual understanding of strapping two cats together, throwing them in a tumble dryer, and expecting them to mate. When they kiss, it has all the romantic impact of watching Wildlife on One.
The film isn't that risky, and the romantic obstacles thrown in the couple's way feel a little perfunctory.
So, this is a passable, often funny rom-com that’ll make an awful lot of Friday-night daters very happy. But it really is high time Grant tried something different.
This is a highly entertaining little comedy that soars far above the usual level of chick-flick.
Sorry? If Cole Porter put his name to Barrymore's "Figuring out you and me/Is like doing a love autopsy..." he'd surely have been thrown out of the Waldorf-Astoria in disgust, whatever he was wearing.
Grant and Barrymore make a reasonable odd couple, and both have charm, but this never comes to life.
It says a lot about the film that the most positive things I can find to write are that Grant has a couple of decent lines and Barrymore has nice skin.
If music be the food of love, Music and Lyrics is a recipe for indigestion.
Grant and Barrymore just don't have the depth or chemistry to make you care. In short: flat like Milli Vanilli.
Enjoyable romantic comedy with likeable characters, a decent script and some surprisingly catchy tunes.
A watchable, workaday rom-com with business as usual from the leads, a bland plot and inconsistent characters.
Move beyond the lame title, and you'll find an unexpectedly good movie, with the inspired casting of Drew Berry and Hugh Grant possessing the necessary chemistry to lift this rote, manufactured story into something appealing.
Far too little originality ... to make the film anything other than a disposable rom-com triviality.
Music and Lyrics could have had more rhythm and a better beat...
Hugh Grant is a genius at romantic comedy. He has just the right blend of good looks, sex appeal, wit, sensitivity, self-awareness, and even more endearing, self-mockery.
Related Forums
by: MH and THE MOVIES 2/26/07

by: David J Hilton 2/7/07
Pictures
News
posted by Scott Weinberg June 05, 2007
Fans of TV's "Friday Night Lights" may be familiar with actor Scott Porter. Movie fans will see him in next...
posted by Gitesh Pandya March 19, 2007
Three new competitors were no match this weekend for the mighty action epic "300," which easily defended...
posted by Gitesh Pandya March 12, 2007
The mighty Spartans won a glorious victory at North American theaters as the bloody war epic "300" exploded...
posted by Gitesh Pandya March 05, 2007
Moviegoers rallied behind the star-driven comedy "Wild Hogs," which raced to number one at the North...


Top Critic