Music & Lyrics
Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore, Brad Garrett; Directed by Marc Lawrence
Alex Fletcher is in a dilemma. He has just been commissioned to write a song for America’s newest pop star, Cora Corman - a kind of Shakira/Britney/Christina fusion. But it has been more than a decade since Alex sat down to write a song, and his fading status as a music star of the 80’s group, POP!, is not helping to boost his confidence. On top of that, he has only five days to write, record, and deliver the song. In short, he is freaking out. Then Sophie Fisher walks through the door to water his plants. It is by sheer luck that Alex happens to discover that Sophie has a knack for coming up with lyrics. He convinces her to help him write the song, and she reluctantly agrees. Over the next several days, the two are obligated to pull all-nighters to finish the song; taking breaks only for food and spontaneous naps. As they grow closer to one another, they are forced to confront their true selves, sharing their triumphs and their regrets. But when the demanding diva threatens to ruin all they have worked for, Alex and Sophie’s partnership is jeopardized with a sticky little situation of integrity.
And surprise! They fall in love...or do they? I knew that they should have - the romantic comedy formula demanded it. They shared a few laughs, a few ‘deep moments’ over a cup of coffee, a few kisses...but there was no evidence that they were falling madly in love with each other over the course of a few days. No romance. By the end of the film I thought they knew each other well enough to have become pretty good friends, but I never believed that they were in love. Was there chemistry? In a way. They seemed to genuinely enjoy each other’s company, and that’s as far as they made us imagine it went. The acting was decent, and the music was good (both Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore did their own singing in this film), but there was nothing here that raised the stakes. We have seen this kind of light, fluffy, puppy love comedy before, and there are writers and directors who have done it far better. Writer/director Marc Lawrence (also writer of Two Weeks Notice - which I liked, and Miss Congeniality - which I loved) tried to make the point that an artist who follows what’s in his or her own heart will create something more beautiful and moving than any formula could. Sophie makes this belief clear to Alex when he considers altering their song to make it more sellable. Of everything I was disappointed with in this film, this made me the maddest of all, - Mr. Lawrence should have taken a note from his own character. There is no way this film could have been more predictable or conventional. It was a formula of a formula. I can’t make it any clearer than that. I felt bad sitting there watching Hugh and Drew play out those clichés. They are too smart and too talented to be wasted on material like this. They both deserve better scripts than they have received and continue to receive.
When I asked a few people what they had thought about this film, most responded, “It was cute.” What is that? What does ‘cute’ mean? Did it stir you, inspire you, move you to tears or laughter? No. ‘Cute’ is unacceptable. ‘Cute’ doesn’t work.’ ‘Cute’ is nothing. We want better than that. We need better than that. Take a cue from those who did it first and did it better. William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, - people who succeeded in creating wonderfully meaningful works that combined romance and comedy. Maybe a new generation of writers will come around again, history will repeat itself, and the screen could once more be graced with good, true, pure storytelling as far as romantic comedies are concerned. Why can’t we get this genre right? Music & Lyrics brings nothing new to the table, so unless you just really love Hugh Grant and want to hear him sing (guilty here), look to fulfill your cinematic romance fix elsewhere at all costs.
Grading:
Story = C
Originality = D
DVD Features = N/A
Acting = B
Enjoyability = B
Visuals = B-
Overall = C
|
