Posted on 1st January 1970 12:00AM

Music & Lyrics is a simple and silly romantic comedy filled with both laughs and music Music & Lyrics tells the tale of Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant) a man, who was once a member of POP, the biggest pop music group in the 80s. But now, almost 16 years later, Alex Fletcher has been made into a laughing stock since he can’t even stay booked at Knott’s Berry Farm as a solo act. Luckily for Alex, he just got a break of a lifetime because the world’s biggest pop star Cora Corman (Haley Bennet) has just asked him to write her next hit single. With no where else to turn to Alex and his agent Chris Riley (Brad Garrett) turn to find music writers who will help Alex write this hit single which is critical for Alex’s career in order to redeem his status in the music world. This is when he realizes that his young and beautiful plant watering girl Sophie played by Drew Barrymore has the hidden talent to write amazing lyrics. And so begins the fun and laughs of Music & Lyrics. I really enjoyed Music & Lyrics and what it had to offer. While it’s definitely not an original or groundbreaking piece of cinema by any means, it is the perfect kind of romantic comedy. Music & Lyrics provides its audience with cute and quirky characters as well as a pretty decent screenplay. The end result of the film is rather typical but nonetheless the film isn’t trying to be anything more than pure entertainment which it accomplishes very well. I have been a fan of Hugh Grant ever since I saw him in the film, About A Boy back in 2001 and from that point on I have seen every film he has starred in. In Music & Lyrics I would say that Hugh Grant is perfectly cast as Alex Fletcher. His role allowed him to show off both his musical talent as well as his comedic talent. I think when watching a Hugh Grant movie, you have to like Hugh Grant in order to like the film because in all honesty nine times out of ten, its his character that makes or breaks the film which is the case with this film as well. Drew Barrymore does a decent job playing her typical cute and a little dizzy girl next door role. She does it well although I don’t think she shared as much chemistry with Grant as the director original thought she would. The film’s costars including Brad Garrett, Haley Bennet, and Kristen Johnson all did a wonderful job in their supporting roles which really brought out and added a nice hint of substance to the main characters. The film was written and directed by Marc Lawrence. Mr. Lawrence is probably best known for writing and directing the 2002 Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock flick, Two Weeks Notice. In Hollywood, Marc is better known as a writer rather than a director although it seems that his writing credits have been hit or miss since he wrote the disaster that was Miss Congeniality 2 as well as the god-awful Ben Affleck vehicle Forces of Nature. Lawrence hasn’t had much experience in the director’s chair since he only has directed 2 films, Two Weeks Notice & Music & Lyrics. However, from what he has directed, I can safety say that he is a pretty decent director and really knows how to capture the characters emotions and feelings. He has also done a great job with telling a typical story in an untypical manner because lets be real all romantic comedies have been done before and Lawrence brought in that hint of freshness that the film needed in order for it to be typical yet lightly fresh. While his writing can be hit or miss, I think Music & Lyrics is probably his best feature to date and his writing style as definitely improved over the years. In the end, Music & Lyrics was much better than I thought it was going to be. It was a simple, fun and cute. I think the film worked very well for a few reasons one being Hugh Grant and the other being its simple yet funny story. It was a great movie to watch with the one you love (as I did) or someone really close to you. It’s definitely a great date movie that’s for sure although I must say if you don’t particularly care for Hugh Grant I would probably skip it. But for those who want to see a fun romantic comedy that is simple yet not overly sappy check out Music & Lyrics it’s definitely worth a trip to the local multiplex. MovieManMenzel’s final rating for Music & Lyrics is a 3.5/5. A great date movie that’s just as much fun for the girls as it is for the guys.