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"Music and Lyrics" Warner Bros. Pictures Written and directed by Marc Lawrence Starring: Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore, Kristen Johnston, Campbell Scott, Brad Garrett, Haley Bennett and Jason Antoon Rated PG-13/96 minutes Opens Feb. 14, 2007 Two-and-a-half out of four stars
"Music and Lyrics" feels like the first draft of a much better romantic comedy -- one that doesn't coast by on the charm of its two stars, Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. The pair entertain us simply by behaving how we'd like them to behave: Grant with his dryly modest way of telling people what fools they are, followed by a grin that's both self-absorbed and self-deprecating, and Barrymore with her cutie-pie sincerity and puppy-dog vulnerability.
Indeed, the two of them are so lovable together, they make Hello Kitty look like a Las Vegas prostitute standing in the rain.
Grant plays Alex Fletcher, a 40ish washed-up pop star living in New York. He was once part of a British band from the early '90s called Pop, a band with a popularity that lasted about as long as its name takes to say. During the opening credits, we get to see the music video for the band's biggest hit (also named "Pop" -- who says there is no creativity in mainstream music?). It doesn't so much parody similar videos of the time as it directly channels one of them, white blazers and tight pants intact. The video is so dead-on, it's less funny than an exaggerated parody might have been.
Alex makes a living now by performing at state fairs and high school reunions, strutting the stage in tight pants that make the hot-and-bothered housewives go crazy.
Barrymore plays Sophie Fisher, a chatty, adorably neurotic woman who comes over to Alex's apartment every so often to water his dying plants. It turns out she's a moderately talented writer -- and hey! He's looking for someone to write lyrics for a song he's been commissioned to create for reigning pop princess Cora Corman (Haley Bennett).
Of course, an artificial deadline has been imposed on them by Cora and the movie gods -- Alex and Sophie have only one week to deliver a finished cut. I'm sure in the real world it takes many, many months to churn out even one hit single, but -- quick, slap me! I'm thinking too hard!
All of these characters are fun, including the lumbering baritone Brad Garrett ("Everybody Loves Raymond") as Alex's loyally dour agent and Kristen Johnston ("3rd Rock from the Sun") as Sophie's pop-obsessed sister. But they are also severely underwritten.
The biggest missed opportunity is Cora, the worshipped pop princess, who has embraced what looks like Buddhism crossed with strip teasing in her performances. She's poised to be a send-up of Shakira, Britney Spears and Madonna, but the filmmakers never milk the joke like they should.
And Sophie has a whole back-story involving an affair with a smug writing professor (Campbell Scott) who wrote her into his newest book, warts and all. Understandably, this is very distressing to Sophie, but the script never really goes anywhere with it, preferring to steam forward to the happy ending.
There's lots of potential here for satiric jabs at the banal, yet irresistible, allure of pop music, for poking fun at what it's like to peak early in life, for dealing with the frustration of having your life defined by one possibly embarrassing work of art. But "Music and Lyrics" only scrapes the surface of such ideas, and is more comfortable being a cute, "boy-meets-girl" story with a good cast and some good laughs.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the pop songs themselves. They're pretty stupid, a sentiment shared by an edgy songwriter played by Jason Antoon who inexplicably attends the big concert at the end of the movie and mimes blowing his brains out with a pistol. I believe he was put there by the filmmakers for the highbrow music snobs in the audience like you and me. That rocks.
