In Cinema World there are Celebrities, Movie Stars and Actors. Jessica Simpson and Ashton Kutcher are Celebrities. Judi Dench is an Actress. Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore in the current romantic comedy Music and Lyrics are Movie Stars at their charming, large-than-life best.
Music and Lyrics is the story of Alex Fletcher, played by Hugh Grant, who was second banana in a 1980s band Pop! that had a number one hit. The band broke up and Alex is down to doing nostalgia shows at places like Knotts Berry Farm. The current teen diva Cora Corman, played by newcomer Haley Bennett-who is almost as good as Anna Faris’ spot-on portrayal of Brittany Spears in Best Friend (if you follow those kinds of things)-wants to do a new song with Alex because she had a crush on him when she was a little girl. The opportunity could save his career, but because of a falling out with his artistic collaborator in Pop!, Alex, who does the music, has no one to write the lyrics for his big song.
That’s where Drew Barrymore’s Sophie Fisher, a brilliant but fragile former English student comes in-literally, to water his plants. One of her English professors seduced her, and then wrote a best-selling book detailing the affair from his warped perspective. Sophie has been hiding and biding her time as a plant caretaker who (you guessed it) is assigned to take care of Hugh Grant’s plants. Grant’s plant, so to speak. She serendipitously helps him with the lyrics, and they fall in love (of course), but their histories and damaged psyches cause lots of problems. The path to performing the new hit with Cora is a rocky one with a number of twists and turns.
Although I suppose the story line is predictable and the message hardly transforming, this turns out to be a very entertaining movie. Hugh and Drew dominate the screen. They are so likable and winning, you can’t help pulling for a successful collaboration. You really want them to live happily ever after. And in the meantime, their dialogue crackles.
I used to criticize Hugh Grant who, like certain performers, plays a single, narrow kind of character. He never really stretches himself or challenges his audience’s perception of him. But what’s really wrong with doing something well over and over again? No one criticizes a great history teacher because he doesn’t teach algebra. Who cares if Tiger Woods isn’t good at tennis? Need I remind you of Robin Williams, Bill Murray and Jim Carey-all of whom have tried to be what they are not with pretty unsatisfying results. Fish don’t ride bicycles. They swim.
Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore can do what very few of people can do. They play characters we like, and whom we want to succeed. To be sure, the ending in Music and Lyrics is kind of cheesy, but the chemistry between these two movie stars and the crackling dialogue results in an entertaining, delightful movie.
There is an entertaining bonus to this film. Grant is really pretty good signing his own songs. Fountains of Wayne tunesmith Adam Schlesinger writes near-perfect copies of 1980s popular music. He wrote the title song for Tom Hanks’ That Thing You Do. Early on, there is a truly hilarious mock video of Pop!’s greatest hit, “Pop! Goes My Heart.” Big Hair never looked so good.
Spartans vs. Robinsons
The Lake has a 3-D battle shaping up with the new 300 currently in release and Disney’s Meet the Robinsons opening on March 30. The Lake, as you may know, invested in 3-D projection technology, so the more technically innovative films, like 300, about the Spartans’ famous last stand at Thermopyle, come here first.
