Music and Lyrics (2007)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Marc Lawrence

Writer (WGA):

Marc Lawrence (written by)

Release Date:

14 February 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Music | Romance

Tagline:

Share the music with someone you love.

Plot:

A washed up singer is given a couple days to compose a chart-topping hit for an aspiring teen sensation. Though he's never written a decent lyric in his life, he sparks with an offbeat younger woman with a flair for words.

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Lyricist | Concert | Band | Restaurant

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Hugh Grant	...	Alex Fletcher
Scott Porter	...	Colin Thompson
Nick Bacon	...	Pop Bass Player
Andrew W. Blakemore	...	Pop Guitar Player (as Andrew Wyatt Blakemore)
Dan McMillan	...	Pop Drummer
Tom Foligno	...	Has-Beens Promo Announcer (voice)
Zak Orth	...	David Newbert - TV Executive #1
Brooke Tansley	...	Janice Stern - TV Executive #2
Daniel Stewart Sherman	...	Willy
Brad Garrett	...	Chris Riley
Aasif Mandvi	...	Khan
Drew Barrymore	...	Sophie Fisher
Haley Bennett	...	Cora Corman
Matthew Morrison	...	Ray
Jason Antoon	...	Greg Antonsky

Also Known As:

Music and Lyrics by... (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content.

Runtime:

USA:96 min | Philippines:105 min | Hong Kong:104 min | Argentina:106 min | Croatia:95 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Ireland:PG | Malaysia:U | Hong Kong:IIA | Australia:PG | Germany:o.Al. | Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:12 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Singapore:PG (edited version) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | UK:PG | Argentina:Atp | Netherlands:AL | Finland:S | Denmark:A | New Zealand:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

201 West 72nd Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

The film's director/producer/writer Marc Lawrence offered "Dance With Me Tonight" to Hugh Grant while he was trying to find the right song to sing during one scene. What he didn't tell him was that Marc's 13-year-old son, Clyde Lawrence, wrote it. On the soundtrack, Clyde actually plays the piano.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Alex is in the music shop sitting at the piano trying to convince Sophie she can be a lyricist, there is an obvious gawker walking by.

Quotes:

Alex Fletcher: My face is in the butter.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Top Gear: (2007-02-04)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Dance with Me Tonight

Surprisingly good fun - better than you'd think.

I've just read the first review on here and I'm a little surprised at the things it said but as always, these things are only an opinion. Anyway, I went to the World Premiere last night and here's what I thought.

The plot is fairly simple - Hugh Grant plays a washed out 80s pop star with a flair for melodies but no clue about lyrics. Cue the dizzy plant-girl (do people really have a plant-girl??) Drew Barrymore who can throw lyrics together without a problem. The relationship between Drew and Hugh is built well - especially when you remember that Drew is 31 and Hugh is 47. There's nothing wrong with such a gap, I'm simply saying the chemistry is there (or they would have looked a little creepy).

Haley Bennett plays Cora, a Britney/Christina/Shakira mish-mash who is looking to do a duet with Hugh's character. She is brilliant at the shallow, superficial teen-nymphette and it's a surprise to see that it's her first feature. And check out her costumes! The soundtrack is good fun - pretend 80s songs mix with Cora's modern pop and the Hugh/Drew demo track is nice too. One of the songs sounds a bit like The Whitlams. The spoken section at the very start of the film sounded awful but the rest was fine - maybe the cinema's problem but I was in the Odeon Leicester Square....

The editing seemed a tiny bit, er, clunky at times - scenes cut into each other messily and dialogue at one point seemed to be cut short. It hadn't been but it just sounded that way at the time.

I didn't expect to like the film that much - I only went as I fancy Drew to bits (and having seen her close up I'm right to!) but both my girlfriend and I came out laughing and humming the main song. It's genuinely as good as any other Hugh Grant film and is another great performance from Drew (though it doesn't get near Wedding Singer or Doppelganger (joking about Doppelganger)). It's well worth going to see at the cinema and is a proper feel good rom-com. There's no shame in it for us fellas as Drew is nice to look at, as is Haley. My girlfriend loved it.