Unbelievable as it may seem, Music and Lyrics is the first Hugh Grant film I'd ever taken the time to sit down and watch in its entirety. I'm not sure what gave me the motivation this time around to check my male dignity at the door and submit myself to the heartthrob's terse wit and boyish charm---although I think a large part may have to do with the fact my girlfriend is a big fan. Either way, I must admit that I was very impressed not only with Grant's deadpan humor, but with the subject matter of the film as well.Music and Lyrics is a romantic comedy (although more comedic than romantic) that serves as a great parody of all the big eighties music cliches. The movie makes implicit digs at Frankie Goes to Hollywood, A-Ha, Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys, and quite obviously, Wham!. Grant's character, Alex Fletcher, is quietly recovering from his exhilarating former life as the keyboardist/vocalist for the synth band Pop!. When his more popular songwriting partner decides to split from Pop! and take all of Fletcher's songs with him, Fletcher finds himself lost in obscurity due to his one crucial song production problem: while he can write moving melodies, he is quite lyrically challenged.
In an odd twist of fate a decade later, Fletcher regains his muse through the introduction to his plant lady Sophie Fisher, played by Drew Barrymore. Barrymore is an idealistic wordsmith who believes that it is the poetic meter of lyrics that gives a song its soul. As she not-so-eloquently puts it in the movie: music is the lust, lyrics is the romance. From this point it doesn't take a genius film critic to see where the movie traverses from here. Obviously, as the two begin working closely with one another to write a song for Shakira-parody Cora Corman (Haley Bennett) a sophisticated romance develops. And at the end of the film the viewer is blatantly hit over the head with the analogous notion that just as music and lyrics complete a song, naive optimism and clever sensibility are sometimes the perfect ingredients to complete a romance.
Below, I've attached the music video for Pop!'s 'Pop Goes My Heart.' This is featured at the beginning of the movie, and had me laughing throughout its entire duration. I'd say the most hysterical part is around the 1:40 mark during the hospital scene.
For those who understand the ridiculousness that was the eighties, you are sure to appreciate this:
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