Although it's not exactly as gratifying as witnessing the real thing, there's something both satisfying and reassuring watching a pro being served soft balls to knock out of the park. That can obviously and naturally refer to baseball pros (especially in the all-star game home run derby), but it can pretty much apply to any profession.
Take, for instance, certain movie genres and/or character types where veteran performers can play the roles and control the films with little to no discernable effort. It might not remotely be a stretch for them, and some viewers may find such characters and the resultant performances repetitive, redundant, and/or boring. Yet, for others, it's enjoyable in the sense of watching a legend step up to the plate and bat a few over the upper row of theater stadium seats.
Such is the case with Hugh Grant and what seems like his umpteenth romantic comedy, "Music & Lyrics." The story of a former band member with a last ditch effort to resurrect his career by penning a song for a current recording star, it's a pop movie about pop music. Knowing this, writer/director Marc Lawrence lobs delicious bits of dialogue in Grant's direction and the actor effortlessly sends them out with such apparent ease and satisfying results that one can overlook much of the film's otherwise bland design and execution.
The film starts off with a fun bang as we witness Grant's character appearing in a classic Big 80s era music video for "Pop Goes My Heart," the sort of inane but instantly catchy tune from that decade populated by bands as goofy and ridiculous, but nonetheless as entertaining as PoP appears here.
The story then segues to a pitch for Alex Fletcher to appear in a reality TV show pitting various '80s has-beens who will box their way to a chance to resurrect their career. While that's pretty much a one-note joke, Grant manages to make it so much more with his trademark, charmingly cynical response to that and most everything else the filmmaker throws his way.
What follows is standard romantic comedy fodder where he meets a somewhat eccentric young woman (the always-appealing Drew Barrymore) and they enter into both a professional and then romantic relationship with all of the usual ups, downs and middle ranges commonly found in such offerings.
While that's to be expected, and Grant keeps things fairly entertaining, the film lacks momentum despite its characters facing a deadline to compose and deliver their song (that turns out to be a rather catchy ditty, which also holds true for a few others). At times, the pic is left floating, with Grant, Barrymore and anyone else who appears on screen with them seemingly standing around, killing time while waiting for the next plot development to finally roll around.
A subplot featuring Campbell Scott as Barrymore's former lover who capitalized in literary form on her eccentricities and various personal shortcomings goes nowhere and potentially could have added a lot to the proceedings. Bits featuring Brad Garrett as the has-been's manager and Kristen Johnston as the amateur lyricist's star-struck sister only fair a bit better.
Which really isn't that big of a deal as this is really just the Hugh and Drew show. The veteran performers are such pros in this genre playing these sorts of characters that it's like watching romantic comedy all-stars stepping up to the plate for some easy home-runs.
Yet, like their sports counterparts, the actual game is far less interesting than the individual performances. With less capable, entertaining, and/or charming leads, this easily could have been anything from bland to bad. Thankfully, Grant and Barrymore are so used to these sorts of parts that the result is somewhat comforting in knowing they'll have no problems delivering the goods.
One only wishes, however, that the rest of the film were as sharp, entertaining, and enjoyable as the dialogue lobbed right over the plate for Grant. I suppose it's appropriate that this turned out to be a pop picture about pop music, but that only means it's pretty much instantly forgettable, albeit in an entertaining way. "Music & Lyrics" rates as a 5.5 out of 10.
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