Starring Hugh Grant as washed up 80’s star Alex Fletcher, and Drew Barrymore as his lyricist and potential love interest, I knew I had to see this film. It isn’t so much nostalgia over the past that draws me in as the way the film evokes memories of one of the best eras in music history.

The film is a lukewarm romantic-comedy, with a shallow plot that Grant’s charm cannot save. The best moments of the film come in the opening sequence where a music video for ‘Pop’, Fletcher’s old band, is shown. 

Perhaps the biggest question that Alex must answer is, “What now?”. People have their primes, the time when their 15 seems like it could stretch out for an eternity. But nothing ever lasts forever, and the glory of Pop is fleeting. Fletcher gets his answer when he is chosen to write a duet for Cora, a Brittney Spears-themed music superstar. However, Alex can’t work alone and needs the help of Sophie Fisher, played by Drew Barrymore.

Whatever realizations that both characters come to, one of the most noble aspects of the film is Fletcher’s willingness to please everyone around him by singing his old hits for an audience that has aged with him. He seems bashful at times, but he pursues smaller gigs with a passion.

In a way, his fate reminds me of the Duran Duran song, “Ordinary World”:

And I don’t cry for yesterday
There’s an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive

Today, the cause of celebrity is an international obession. But when that well drys up, what fate awaits? Music and Lyrics is willing to hint at the more important aspects of making music– being true to yourself, seeking self-expression and making audiences happy.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 1st, 2007 at 6:57 pm and is filed under Film, Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.