Music and Lyrics - Review

There are times when you look back at the olden days - you see a your older heroes and want to find out what happened to them? They have been labelled as a flash in a pan and all their future endeavors have been utter disasters. Your Gen Y cousins have not even heard about them. You feel nostalgic and morose at the same time. Music and Lyrics is such a story.

Hugh Grant plays Alex Fletcher one half of one of the a very popular band in the 80s called the POP who did not make it big in his solo efforts. He lives in the past and does not shy from admitting that. He gets a lifeline when he has to compose a song for the latest Buddhism in Thongs teen sensation Cora Corman. The only problem - he is told how the song begins and what it should be about but he has only 72 hours to complete it and has no lyricist.

What follows is a delighful tale of how he overcomes his past and prove to the rest of the world that his exploits in the past were not a fluke. On the way he meets Drew Barrymore (Sophia Fisher) who helps him with the lyrics. But before she can do that, she has to overcome her past as well.

The movie though very bubbly on surface reveals the dark side of life. It shows how difficult it is to get out of an emotional scar, the pressures an artist faces because of his agents and promo managers trying to impose what they think would sell rather than let him explore his own talents. Alex tries to be positive about his failures and tries to live life on his own terms rather than be rich and famous by doing what his manager asks him to do. He empathizes with Sophia and tries to help her find her way back from her scarred past. He tries to infuse confidence in her and helps her face the past.

Ratings -
Hugh Grant - 9/10 - plays the part of the forgotten idol to perfection. His hip shakes are really funny.
Drew Barrymore - 7/10 - portrays the scarred yet brave freak lyricist well.
Overall Movie - 8/10 Must watch

This is a repost - it was posted before my blogs were deleted on 19 Feb 2007