Product Description

A has-been singer is asked to write and record a duet with a popular teen singer to reignite his career, having never written lyrics before he turns to a woman who has a way with words.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 4-SEP-2007
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2335 in DVD
• Brand: GRANT,HUGH
• Released on: 2007-05-08
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 104 minutes

Amazon.com
Music and Lyrics is frothy and sweet, like the top of a perfect cappuccino shared a deux. Hugh Grant is a self-professed "happy has-been," playing his befuddled, adorable persona more spot-on than he has since Four Weddings and a Funeral. As Alex, former member of an '80s pop band who years later is playing at water parks and high school reunions, he's settled into a life of lesser expectations. Drew Barrymore, quietly radiant, is Sophie, the underachieving girl Friday who arrives to water--make that overwater--Alex's plants--and to explode him out of that comfy rut. If the plot's a bit farfetched, it matters not, since the two lead characters are so likable--and make such beautiful music together. Big bonus: the supportive role of Kristen Johnston as Rhonda, Sophie's older sis (and longtime Alex fan) whose hilarious performance threatens to steal the show whenever she's onscreen. (The owner of a chain of successful weight-loss centers, Rhonda tries to comfort a rattled Sophie: "Want to do some stress eating?") The film also marks the remarkable debut of Haley Bennett, who plays a pop star of Britney/Cristina proportions with deadpan sincerity radiating through her skimpy outfits and mega-extensions. As Alex and Sophie work on crafting musical magic, something else is taking hold. It's music to the ears of anyone needing a sweet romantic comedy that hits all the right notes. --A.T. Hurley

Customer Reviews

H'Katzie
Was a present for my husb, who enjoyed it, as we all did, at the beach one evening. Fun movie.

Music & Lyrics
I thoroughly enjoy watching this movie over and over. Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore definitely have a chemistry that I wouldn't have expected, especially due to their age difference; and I have always loved Brad Garrett and wish he would make more movies that even star him.

a truly good romantic comedy
We bought this DVD for our daughter's birthday, and watched it with her. Then I asked for a copy of my own for my birthday.

It's funny... or rather, it isn't--that romantic comedies are often considered trite, mindless entertainment, but yet it's apparently really hard to make a good one. I see a lot more good action movies than romantic comedies, or comedies in general.

Anyway. Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant) is an 80s pop star has-been. He's reduced to doing shows at theme parks and state fairs for an increasingly older, primarily female audience. But now he's got a chance to make a comeback. Current pop diva Cora Corman (Haley Bennett) wants him to write a duet for the two of them, but only if he can have it ready in a week. Unfortunately for Alex, his usual lyricist is unavailable, Alex cannot write lyrics at all, and the substitute his manager sends is depressing.

Enter Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore). She's the "plant girl"--that is, she comes by to water his plants--and her comments lead Alex to offering her the job of helping him write the song. Just that much would be a cute movie, but it doesn't stop there.

Sophie can't take it seriously because, while she loves putting words together, an ex-lover who's a professor and a literary writer, told her that her writing sucked.

And that's what made it a truly good movie. Under the witty banter, catchy tunes, and funny situations is the story of two people recovering their confidence and sense of self-worth and falling in love as they do it.

In fact, I think that's where the mediocre romantic comedies fail--they try to make things funny by keeping them light, glossing over problems. But Music and Lyrics was romantic and funny precisely because Sophie couldn't tell her ex off, and Alex couldn't stand up for his song. It's basically the cinema equivalent of a Jennifer Crusie novel.

I tend to enjoy Hugh Grant movies--sue me--so I'm a little biased, but I think he fit this role really well. There was precisely the right balance between earnestness and, well, cheese. It would have been an easy role to overplay, to go over the top with silliness, but he doesn't. The same with Drew Barrymore--though her character's more understated, she's completely believable.

And it didn't hurt that around the same time that I saw this movie, I read Waiting for Nick, or that we we'd been watching the DVDs of Third Rock From the Sun. (Kristen Johnston plays Sophie's sister.)

And oh, yeah, the music. Very catchy. "Pop! Goes My Heart" kept running through my head for days afterward.... oh, darnit. Now it's back.