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Music and Lyrics

Over the past few years, uber-critic Roger Ebert has gotten complaints from fans that he’s gone soft and gives every sub-par movie three stars. Some common examples are romantic comedies such as Rumor Has It, Sweet Home Alabama, and 50 First Dates. On Sweet Home Alabama, particularly, he writes in his review that “we understand how the formula works” and “I am so very tired of the underlying premise.” So why three stars? Because Reese Witherspoon is “lovable” and the movie is “admittedly charming.”

I understand his conundrum. Movies in the modern romantic comedy genre attempt to shove you in your seat and force you to like them. The two leads are always the gosh-darn sweetest people you’ve ever met. That music in the background makes everyone so happy. It’s always tough for them to get together, because man, love is hard to come by, but gee, isn’t it the nicest thing in the world when they get together in the end?

And while these thoughts creep into your head, all the while, the back of your mind is telling you: please. Please don’t fall for this again. This is the most predictable thing in the world. This is the most forced relationship ever created. Those two celebrities already have way too much money. Everything about this is artificial. And yet you watch the screen with mild interest, you can’t help but inwardly smile when the couple kisses at the end, and you leave the movie feeling generally pleasant.

The problem for me is, since the mild euphoria wears off immediately after the movie ends, all I’m left with is a million reasons to give the movie a bad review. Most reviewers do. Roger Ebert admits he liked it while he was watching it.

So I suppose it’s about time to actually mention the movie I’m talking about. Music and Lyrics, as you probably know from the advertisements, is a romantic comedy that shows up just in time for Valentine’s Day. It follows the romantic comedy formula to perfection. The king of the genre, Hugh Grant, stars with the charming and lovable Drew Barrymore. It has a gimmicky set-up "” in this case, Grant’s character is a washed-up former ’80s pop idol. (That means, yep, that the movie opens with a cheesy music video with Grant in a bad wig.)

There is absolutely nothing original about it in any way shape or form. Nothing. (Well, except for a random and inexplicable cameo by Campbell Scott.) But if you go, and especially if you’re the target audience of female romantic comedy fans, you’ll laugh at points

(Haley Bennett gets a lot of laughs playing a Shakira-like pop star), you’ll be charmed at points (the two leads are good at looking adorable), and you sure as heck won’t care that the movie is formulaic and pointless and maybe a little boring. Mass audiences like formula, and really, what’s wrong with that? Most people go to the movies to have a good time.

However, what I can tell you is that even in the romantic comedy genre, there are much better movies. For Hugh Grant fans, Notting Hill was better. His shtick was a lot fresher then, and the movie was funnier, with a less gimmicky concept. More recently, The Holiday was also better "” the couples had much more chemistry and the story was just plain more interesting. And it doesn’t approach While You Were Sleeping and You’ve Got Mail, either. But it’s far from a mess, like Just Married or Forces of Nature. It’s just sort of"¦there.

Basically, it’s very, very harmless, although I certainly can’t condone spending money to see it.

Movie Grade: C+

Synopsis:

Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant) is a washed-up 80s pop star who’s been reduced to working the nostalgia circuit at county fairs and amusement parks. The charismatic and talented musician gets a chance at a comeback when reigning diva Cora Corman invites him to write and record a duet with her, but there’s a problem"”Alex hasn’t written a song in years, he’s never written lyrics, and he has to come up with a hit in a matter of days. Enter Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore), Alex’s beguilingly quirky plant lady, whose flair for words strikes a chord with the struggling songwriter. On the rebound from a bad relationship, Sophie is reluctant to collaborate with anyone, especially commitment-phobe Alex. As their chemistry heats up at the piano and under it, Alex and Sophie will have to face their fears"”and the music"”if they want to find the love and success they both deserve.