Sunday, February 11, 2007

MUSIC AND LYRICS - surprisingly good!

I had a fun time watching MUSIC AND LYRICS. Yes, it sticks to the conventions of the romantic-comedy. Yes, it's cheesy. Yes, it has an improbable but ludicrously heart-warming denouement. But compared to a mercenary, over-long, over-schmaltzy product like THE HOLIDAY, MUSIC AND LYRICS looks like a winner.

The movie features Hugh Grant as a washed-up 80s boy-band veteran. He's stuck on the nostalgia circuit - playing school reunions - and desperately needs to write a hit song for a Britney-like singer hip-hop singer called Cora. To this end, he recruits his conveniently lyrically-gifted plant-waterer (I kid you not), played by Drew Barrymore. They write the song, fall in love, and despite the obligatory obstacles, the movie ends happily.

There are three great things about the film. First, it brilliantly spoofs 1980s pop bands - and Hugh Grant clearly has a lot of fun in the role and delivers his self-mocking one-liners with real comedic skill. Second, the ballad that Hugh and Drew are writing is really rather nice and adds credibility to a rather improbable tale. But third and most crucially, Hugh and Drew have genuine on-screen chemistry and grown-up dialogue to deliver. So, as surprised as I am to say this, credit where credit's due: MUSIC AND LYRICS is a great romantic-comedy.

MUSIC AND LYRICS is on release in the UK. It opens in Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines and the US on Valentine's Day and in Bulgaria on the 16th. It opens in Hong Kong, Brazil and Italy on the 23rd. It opens in Iceland and Sweden on March 2nd, in Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Singapore, Austria and Norway on March 9th. It opens in France on March 14th, in Latvia on March 16th and in Spain on April 13th.

1 comment:

  1. Happy to hear there might actually be something to look forward to this weekend.h

    ReplyDelete