A new favorite: Music and Lyrics

My husband (Derrol) and I enjoyed a quiet (cheap) evening watching Lyrics and Music starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, just out on DVD.

Full disclosure: my husband doesn’t care for most chick flicks but amazingly he enjoys Hugh Grant movies. Maybe it is the self-deprecating, tongue in cheek performances, the clutzy but big hearted characters like in Notting Hill (Roger Michell, director) with Julia Roberts, and now as Alex Fletcher in Lyrics and Music.

I’ve been cheering for Drew Barrymore ever since she was that adorable little sister in ET (Steven Spielberg, director). And I’m old enough to have watched her ‘ancestors’ in their old films as reruns on TV. My mother is old enough to have watched them in theaters for real – even the silent movies. But that’s another story. Just let it suffice that I feel like a friend of the family.

Grant and Barrymore are endearing and play their characters with a lighthearted sincerity spiced with a touch of gotcha. Not taking themselves too seriously, they looked like they had fun with these quirky parts.

The relationship seems all wrong at the beginning. Both characters have histories that were keeping them living in the past. They help each other through to the other side while their relationship grows and turns into something we were both hoping would work out. That and the catchy little songs and the tropes – like her clicking her pen, his hip move, the has-been battle, the over watered plants, just drew us in like we were ‘in’ on the joke. Barrymore's character, Sophie Fisher was a bit spacey, but not dumb. She and Grant's character, Alex Fletcher, made a believable creative team.

I probably wouldn’t have chosen Brad Garrett as a supporting actor, but Kristen Johnston made a great 'big' sister. Haley Bennett fulfilled every expectation as the nympho diva Cora Corman. Much to my surprise I enjoyed Grant’s musical performances, not such a surprise, I like him in tight pants.

After the end and the credits begin to roll, the story continues with some of the best pot shots at old rock 'n roll stars, the music business and the characters. We totally enjoyed each little balloon caption with comments about hip replacements, chicken cutlets only 74 calories, Cora’s wedding…. Wonderful tidbits.

I may just have to buy this gem. It is the kind of movie that calls for another viewing, and another, and another. Now we can have a Hugh Grant weekend: Notting Hill, Love Actually (our all time favorite) and now Lyrics and Music.

If you want a second opinion, check out IMDb –Earth’s Biggest Movie Database for their review.