Keeper's Book Reviews: Movie Review: Music and Lyrics

Cheery Alex Fletcher lives comfortably in Manhattan off the residuals from his 80's pop success and reprising his hits at school reunions, theme parks, and state fairs. But those gigs are declining, so he jumps at the chance to write a song and record it with reigning teen idol Cora Corman. Trouble is, he's good at melodies but needs a lyricist and has less than a week to finish. Enter Sophie Fisher, subbing for a friend who waters Alex's plants; she's a pretty good poet, quick witted, and could do it, if she'd agree. But there's some sort of shadow over her head that Alex may not be able to charm his way past. And what if they do get a song written, what then?
~ Anonymous

If I was asked to describe this movie in one word, I'd have to say cute. And cute it was. There was nothing intense about it, nothing detailed or super-romantic. It was, very simply, an everyday romantic comedy, besides the fact that the two main characters were complete weirdos. The only movies of Hugh's that I've watched besides this one are The Proposal and Love, Actually (both amazing movies by the way). In all these movies - including this one - Hugh has a certain "I don't care about anything" attitude, which keeps pretty much every scene from being too intense. I won't lie, I would have preferred intense; the lack of too much emotion made this movie blend in with the thousands of other romantic comedies, and I bet that in a few weeks I won't even remember what most of this movie was about.

I liked most of the characters, as they were all laugh-out-loud funny. My personal favorite character was teen idol Cora Corman, who was played by Haley Bennett. I've never seen her in any movie before, but she played her character in Music and Lyrics perfectly. She was this i-pretend-sex-is-religion-and-i'm-crazy character, and even though she was the weirdest character I've ever seen on television (or in this case, on my phone), I couldn't help but loving her. What I never figured out though was how she was a teen sensation when the stripper-like clothes she wore probably aren't teen-appropriate. I guess that's why it's just a movie.

I've heard other people describe this movie as cliché, but I'm going to have to disagree with that. Sure, it's obvious from just the poster and synopsis that Alex and Sophie are going to fall in love, but that doesn't make it cliché. If anything, their romance is the opposite of cliché. Well, kind of. There is the fact that Sophie hated Alex's old band POP, but then ends up liking him and it....so yeah, that part is cliché. But the other stuff, the details, they're not cliché. Would a cliché storyline have Sophie be the inspiration for a character who seduces a professor from his wife? I think not. And trust me when I say there are tons of other crazy glitches to this "cliché" romance.

If I could go back into the past, would I watch this movie again? Yes, yes I would. It's actually not that bad, and I don't think I'll ever find a movie like this again. It was worth it if just for how much it caused me to laugh. You can never have too much laughter. Would I watch it again in the future? No. This is a one-time thing; it wouldn't be worth losing another 104 minutes from my life.

Now I'd like the take this opportunity to share with you my absolute favorite part/dance sequence in the entire movie. Watch and learn how it's done, yo!:)