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Movies / On DVD / Music and Lyrics
Music and Lyrics

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Music and Lyrics (2007)

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Reviews Counted: 158

Fresh: 99

Rotten:59

Average Rating: 6/10

Consensus: Music & Lyrics is a light and pleasant romantic comedy that succeeds because of the considerable charm of its co-stars. The music segments featuring Hugh Grant are worth the price of admission.

Rated: PG

Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Musicians, Relationships, Singers, Composers

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... 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]

Starring: Drew Barrymore, Hugh Grant, Brad Garrett, Kristen Johnston

Starring: Drew Barrymore, Hugh Grant, Brad Garrett, Kristen Johnston, Campbell Scott, Hayley Bennett, Zak Orth, Brooke Tansley

Director: Marc Lawrence

Director: Marc Lawrence
Producer: Mark Lawrence
Studio: Warner Bros.

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Reviews for Music and Lyrics

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
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Ratings Image

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.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
02/18/07
Philip French
Observer [UK]
Ratings Image

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.

Full Review Source: thelondonpaper | comment 1 Comment
02/09/07
Stuart McGurk
thelondonpaper
Ratings Image

If you don't expect too much, you won't get too little.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
02/09/07
Derek Malcolm
This is London
Ratings Image

The film isn't that risky, and the romantic obstacles thrown in the couple's way feel a little perfunctory.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
02/09/07
Anthony Quinn
Independent
Ratings Image

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.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
02/09/07
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]
Ratings Image

This is a highly entertaining little comedy that soars far above the usual level of chick-flick.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
02/09/07
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]
Ratings Image

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.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
02/09/07
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph
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Ratings Image

Grant and Barrymore make a reasonable odd couple, and both have charm, but this never comes to life.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
02/09/07
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
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Ratings Image

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.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
02/09/07
Wendy Ide
Times [UK]
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Ratings Image

If music be the food of love, Music and Lyrics is a recipe for indigestion.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
02/09/07
Neil Smith
Channel 4 Film
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Ratings Image

Grant and Barrymore just don't have the depth or chemistry to make you care. In short: flat like Milli Vanilli.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
02/09/07
Stella Papamichael
BBC
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Ratings Image

A routine romcom.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/08/07
Anna Smith
Time Out
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Ratings Image

Enjoyable romantic comedy with likeable characters, a decent script and some surprisingly catchy tunes.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
02/08/07
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image

A watchable, workaday rom-com with business as usual from the leads, a bland plot and inconsistent characters.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
02/06/07
Anna Smith
Empire Magazine
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Ratings Image

Silly and enjoyable, but superficial and formulaic.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
02/03/07
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image

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.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
07/26/07
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
Ratings Image

Far too little originality ... to make the film anything other than a disposable rom-com triviality.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
07/03/07
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
Ratings Image

Music and Lyrics could have had more rhythm and a better beat...

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
05/04/07
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com
Ratings Image

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.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
04/23/07
Beverly Berning
culturevulture.net
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Related Forums for Music and Lyrics

This is the single worst romantic comedy I've ever seen. Period.
by: UNTDrew 2/13


watch this for free online
by: BoineCracker 3/1/07


Charming Characters, Believable Premise and Good Music Make "M&L" A Winning Romance
by: MH and THE MOVIES 2/26/07


Music & Lyrics Poster
by: The Offbeat Regular 2/14/07


David J Hilton
'PG' rating for Music And Lyrics in the UK
by: David J Hilton 2/7/07
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