Retro-feel romantic comedy that sticks doggedly to the formula - 60%

Rating: 6/10 (23 September 2009)

Here in the UK at the moment, the pop charts seem to have been invaded by a vast collection of nubile, blonde young women grinding their hips and wearing not much. It's difficult for someone like me to keep track of them all but even harder to take them seriously as musical artistes. Trouble is, the other current trend is for various groups to reform and produce new stuff and unless rose-tinted spectacles are firmly in place, the Eighties weren't much better either. Beneath the facade of being a rom-com, this film offers a happy (if implausible) mix of the two featuring two stars who aren't exactly pushing their boundaries too far.
Washed-up former pop star Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant) has a comfortable existence living off the royalties from his Eighties heydays in Manhattan and occasionally performing small-scale gigs with his manager Chris Riley (Brad Garrett). But when he's recruited by current pop sensation Cora (Haley Bennett) to write a potential new single for her, Alex senses a possible comeback on the cards. But he has a problem - he cannot write decent lyrics but against Chris's decision, he brings in his gardener Sophie (Drew Barrymore) who has a gift for writing lyrics. But Sophie isn't without her own baggage...
It's about as contrite as any rom-com you can think of and it's certainly not going to win any awards for unpredictability but "Music And Lyrics" is a little different from the norm. The first thing that lifts the film is the music which perfectly captures the vacuous nature of Eighties pop music - the opening video, for example, is spot-on. Grant and Barrymore, whilst not exactly testing the limits of their acting, provide a decent enough couple on screen despite the plot not being believable at any point during the film. Sadly, the comedy is not frequent enough for the film to be anything more than a gentle titter, especially seeing as most of the film's humour is so obvious that Stevie Wonder could spot it a mile off. But both are supported by Garrett and Kristen Johnson as Sophie's sister Rhonda, though they struggle to escape their sit-com pasts.
Yet despite its flaws and my preconceptions, I kinda enjoyed "Music And Lyrics". There are some laughs to be had and it has enough of the slushy stuff to keep your other half interested as well and it's this combination that makes it a half-decent rom-com. Sure, it's lightweight and utterly forgettable and I doubt anyone will remember it in ten or fifteen years time. But when I was watching it, I was recalling other rom-com films Grant & Barrymore have made over the years. "Never Been Kissed", "Two Weeks Notice", "Lucky You", "Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason" - I'd happily throw myself into the Atlantic with concrete shoes than watch any of those movies whereas "Music And Lyrics" isn't anything like as bad. Rom-coms aren't really my thing and rarely score more than a six so this is a pretty good score, all things considered. Maybe music in the Eighties wasn't that bad after all.