Music and Lyrics (2007)

Full confession, I am a big

Hugh Grant fan. Ever since he bumbled onto our screens in Four Weddings (I know he had roles before that hit), he has been a natural lead in the romantic comedy genre. Here we have him playing opposite Drew Barrymore.

The story is a clever setup .. Grant is playing an aging 1980s popstar who has had his best days behind him, making a living now from doing nostalgia tours of his old hits. He is roped into writing a song for a modern day teenage sensation but he gets a little writers block. This is where Barrymore comes in. She is the emergency plant watering lady that comes in to his flat and ends up helping him finish the song.

Chris Riley: Why do you have a plant lady? Why do you even have plants?
Alex Fletcher: Because, from time to time, ladies accompany me back to the apartment and one of them once mentioned that plants make women comfortable.
Chris Riley: Is that true? Plants make women comfortable? Well, maybe if I had plants I’d still be married.
Alex Fletcher: Yes, I think that was the problem; not Susan’s affair and raging nymphomania but your lack of vegetation.

The dialogue is extremely witty with Grant having some real clever lines to deliver. There is a lot going on in the background when the characters are interacting. There is a beautiful wee routine where she comes in an puts her coat on his piano and then he moves it, and then she moves it back. It was beautifully executed very natural.

Brad Garrett plays his long suffering manager with

Kristen Johnston taking on the role of Barrymore’s sister who was infatuated with Grant when she was growing up. Extremely amusing.

If you are a Hugh Grant fan and want a good laugh, then you can’t go wrong with this outing. It is flawed for sure, but on the whole it trundles along just nicely.

#83 in the series