Hugh Grant is as charmingly befuddled as always as an aging 1980’s pop star — from the fictitious group "Pop" — looking for a break with a new song to be sung by a teeny bopper pop star. Drew Barrymore is an oddball, plant-watering, undiscovered lyric writer. Their chemistry is pretty spot on.
There, that’s out of the way. Now we can discuss the true star of the film: the music.
It’s not great — in fact most of it’s pretty bad — but it fits so well into the classic romantic comedy formula that it comes off far better, and funnier, than it actually is. That's especially true for the 80’s music video of Pop singing their hit “Pop Goes My Heart” that the movie opens and closes with. The video is a dead-on recreation of the fumbling attempts of early music video direction and is utterly hilarious, with Hugh Grant in 80’s style hair rocking out on a keyboard. Expect to be leaving the theater humming it.
In many ways “Music and Lyrics” is a musical hidden within a romantic comedy. There are enough songs to at least argue the point, and the plot itself revolves around music, even the concluding apology/statement-of-love is done in song. It’s incredibly cheesy and pretty dumb, but Grant pulls it off with the charm that’s put him on top of the rom-com leading man heap.
Barrymore and Grant must write their new hit song in a matter of days while also solving each others pesky life problems and falling in love. The story is nothing special, but the infusion of music — even if it is just Hugh Grant singing a made up 80’s pop song while wearing tight pants and a shiny sports coat — warms the tired plot up enough to make it palatable.
The music also infuses the film with a little more than most romantic comedies have to offer by allowing it to poke some fun, and even make a statement about, the modern music scene. The diva pop-star the duo are composing for is an amalgamation of the every club hopping 18-20-something songstress, caught up in herself and trying to be far deeper than she actually is. However, it is kind of hard to take the critique seriously when director/writer Marc Lawrence places 80’s pop — the same music that led to today's pop tarts — on such a pedestal.
But really, “Music and Lyrics” is a romantic comedy and a decent one at that, so nothing should be taken too seriously — it’s all fluff.
But it’s enjoyable fluff with Hugh Grant, so guys that love the 80’s (and who doesn’t?) won’t have to suffer to much while earning their brownie points on Valentine's Day.
<1b>— Matthew Razak