Positive surprise!

Rating: 9/10 (20 March 2007)

I like positive surprises! More than the shallow romantic movie I expected, but sufficiently original, lively and funny. Good entertainment for me for me from first to last minute. Lightened up my spirits on a lonely Friday night, was no doubt worth the money. I sympathized with the characters for their slightly freaky way, and liked that the movie - at least at most times :-) - did not cross the line to soppiness but always stayed funny and a little ironic, and also the way some inconvenient truths were outspoken between the characters which is always a healthy preventive to soppiness. I appreciated a lot the musical&show performances the actors delivered. I think that anyone who has ever been on a stage themselves will truly have to give them some credit for their accomplishments in entertainment, especially newly-cast Haley Bennett. On-the-spot entertainment for me, which will say something for someone like me who neither has a liking for the 80's nor for the usual git Hugh Grant. No, I liked both Grant and Drew Barrymore a lot in this one as well as the music. Light entertainment is an art in itself, and was accomplished pretty much to my satisfaction. Strongly support the tagline of another user's comment "Surprisingly good fun - better than you'd think". OK perfectly happy as I was, why did I not give it a ten? The female realist inside myself was annoyed that they never talked about the money Drew Barrymore (aka Sophie Fisher) would receive for the lyrics she drew.