Music & Lyrics

'Loving the joy of Music'

Romance films, or sometimes known as "chick flicks", have always carried a hearty following and thus many Hollywood films have repreatedly stabbed at the genre hoping to gain that niche audience that is just big enough to make a real hit stick. Sleepless in Seattle, Casablanca, and even Gone with the Wind to a certain extent fall in this category. What you don't hear about are the films hat didn't quite make it into the great category such as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, You've Got Mail, and other generic formulaic peices of trash, especially the yearly made teen-angst romance films. The problem is that Hollywood forgot that by stabbing repeatedly, they might kill it by missing the sweet spot. And if you can't already tell, I have long thought the genre dead.

The most recent attempt at this genre pairs Drew Barrymore with British hunk-man Hugh Grant. Together they are directed by writer/director Marc Lawrence whose only other movie to his name is the lackluster Two Weeks Notice. Not a very auspicious or even arousing beginning for me personally. Now with that said, let me make this clear, this is one of the best chick flicks that I have seen in a very long time...What? Yes, I wrote it and I mean it. Mostly because the film uses the generic formula of the chick flick as a medium to convey the real meaning of the film, that of 80's pop. Although the story is fairly generic in its plot twists, yes Barrymoore sleeps with Grant no real surpise, it all centers around an aging 80's pop star played by Hugh Grant and his one last chance at being able to carry on his career and life of I'm-no-longer-a-star events. However, everything this movie lacks in fresh twists and new artistic takes on romance, it makes up for in its incredibly witty dialogue, smart acting, great chemistry, and emergence into the world of music. In fact, the main message is a thinly veiled one dealing with music and where all of the great entertainment acts have gone. I must give kudos to Marc Lawrence for addressing a problem that has been plaguing music of late in a manner that is entertaining and light-hearted. The plague that I speak of is the modern day fixation with exploiting sex in music in a frantic attempt to top the charts. Just look at today's pop stars with their blatant lyrics and sexual music videos from Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera to Justin Timberlake. Are they fun? Sure, but are they family songs? Do they really connect to people? NO. At least not the average Joe. Now Lawrence doesn't suggest that the 80's were a pinnacle of brilliance, as can be seen in the hilarious fake video "Pop Went My Heart." What he suggests in the film, is that the urge to make everything exotic and sexy and to basically exploit EVERYTHING takes away any artistic merit and turns songs that could be potentially great into merely rebellious drivel that a true great artist such as Bob Dillon would be ashamed of. This is perfectly brought out by the foil character of Cora Cormon played by Haley Bennett to Hugh Grant's character. In fact, it would seem her ridiculously mysterious persona and absurd reality is drawn lovingly from Madonna and her Kaballah mysticism. In the end, Lawrence reminds us why we as an audience enjoyed the 80's with its moody emotional songs and catchy tunes that somehow connected and why even though they weren't the high-brow art of some artists, they were much better than the brand of pop shoved down our throats today. As an unabashed enjoyer of nostalgic 80's music with its bad hair-do's and keyboard synthesizers, I agree with Lawrence entirely. I don't think that modern pop should disappear since beautiful women in skimpy outfits dancing is always fun, but I do think there is more room for more quality music.

Now the actors. Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymoore in my book are both pretty close to has-beens. Obviously they have both done their fair share of romance movies and some may even be enjoyable. but for the most part, they have both seemed very wooden and one-sided in whatever role they took. The only other acceptable Barrymoore romance I can think of is The Wedding Singer, a movie that once again centers around the old music styles...maybe she should look for more of that. The truth is that no matter how much I dislike their acting styles, in this movie they just fit perfectly. Hugh Grant has perfected the Simon Cowell cynicism and one-liners and has somehow found room to add emotions and acting ability. Together it makes for one of Grant's better acting roles. Barrymoore throws a high-strung energy into her character that brings the plant girl to life and makes their relationship completely possible. Grant becomes the washed up song star and really pulls the character through by learning how to sing to the point where he records all of his own songs for the movie. In an interview he stated that he felt he learned how to sing and dance passably, but I have to say that he did better than that. He sounds like any pop star could sound from the 80's. Well done sir. Also, it is great to watch the story of Barrymoore's character unfold and see Barrymoore go from being shy, timid, clumsy plant lady to pretty good lyricist in a matter of days. I also like the feeling of urgency Lawrence put in the script by constantly referring to the days and how many are left to complete songs, it really brought to life the hectic energy and life of the characters. The other stand out actor is Haley Bennett as Cora Corman. She plays her part so oblivious to reality except her own with a huge business sense for a little girl that is very kind of Lawrence to remind us later on that she is still human with a soft spot for romance. But she is still creepy as hell and in a world where pop stars seem to keep getting weirder and weirder, she's not too far-fetched. I mean hey, even funnyman Brad Garrett from Everybody Loves Raymond fame joins the cast for some fun lines and some good bits.

Conclusion:
Although the plot offers no new artistic or interesting takes on love that couldn't be guessed from the title and the actors, the movie is surprisingly fresh and packed with great dialogue and one-liners. The acting comes off brilliantly and the chenistry created between the characters is wonderful to watch. Not only that, but Marc Lawrence does a great job of assembling new pop type music and including it in the movie, some of which he wrote himself. Lastly, the ability for the film to comment on the music business and to reveal all of the flaws for both the modern day and the recent past reveals plenty of reasons why the 80's music is now considered nostalgic. It's the fact that America is missing the days of fun and music that connects. After all, nothing makes you happier quicker than a good song. For people who feel that modern music has been missing something or those that either love Hugh Grant or Drew Barrymoore or love romance films, go see this film. If you truly believe today's pop is ingenious and much better than the past, then please see this film and realize you are wrong or stay away and don't bother us people who want to remember better days while watching an honest and earnest film.

3.6 out of 5

Wannabe