Music and Lyrics (2007)

Sure. Why not? The first question in assessing a movie's merit is does it do as intended?

With "Music and Lyrics," what it intends is nothing extraordinary. It aims to be a fun, romantic, sweet comedy of a man meeting a woman and falling in love, with a poke at pop culture. It accomplishes this. I saw this on February 14, Valentine's Day, and wanted exactly as delivered.

Paul McCartney asked in the 1970s what the world needs with another silly love song. "Music and Lyrics" is, in film, a silly love song.

Hugh Grant plays Alex Fletcher, a has-been pop singer from a defunct duo similar to Wham!, struggles to find his way as his audience stops caring. Realistic, he knows what he is capable of, but is unsure what his next step should be.

When Cora, a pretentious form of Britney Spears-Shakira-Christina Aguilera of sex-pop, offers him an opportunity to write a song, he runs into trouble. He is a melody man, not a lyricist. His lyricist from his old band, Pop!, is long gone.

In walks Sophie Fisher, played with charm by the ever-sweet Drew Barrymore. She's Alex's temporary plant watering person (and not a very good one), with a penchant for delivering peppy lyrics under her breath. Despite the scorn of fill-in wordsmith Greg Antonsky, Alex takes a liking to her style. Greg's angst-style, hopeless lyrics seem off kilter with Alex's personality.

Embittered from a broken affair with an engaged man, Sophie is uninterested. It is one thing to hum a tune, and it is another to commit to writing a song. However, Alex only has a few days and pressures (begs, really), Sophie to help.

She acquiesces, and tries to write. Alex and Sophie clash, as he understands the profession of music, and is desperate, and she is still stuck on the failed affair.

Both are living in the past, and both need to move up into 2007 to survive and thrive.

Finally, lyrics are written, and Cora loves them -with a few changes. Cora's version is laced with faux spirituality and tramped-up seduction. Sophie's artistic sensibilities are insulted, and pulls the song much to Alex's chagrin. They argue, break-up, and now, Alex is stuck trying to fix a song.

Can he fix the song on time? Will they figure out how to live in the present day? What about love (this is a romantic comedy, remember?).

A fine self-mocking performance is put on by Kristen Johnston as Sophie's older sister Rhonda, making jabs at her own weight-loss campaign. Brad Garrett as Alex's agent Chris Riley is right on the money, as he is both a manager and friend.

Drew Barrymore shows she's more than the girl next door, but has a kind of Lucille Ball, Jenna Elfman, Meg Ryan mix going on.

Hugh Grant is perfectly cast, and is the better side of himself. He never overplays the role, and yet, does not fall into the 'stupid Englishman' persona he occasionally does.

I fully recommend "Music and Lyrics."

Anthony Trendl

editor, HungarianBookstore.com

"Music and Lyrics" is a hoot: witty, bright, beautifully performed by the luminous Drew Barrymore (as ditzy, charming, beautiful Sophie Fletcher) and the dry of wit, Hugh Grant (as the less famous half, Alex Fletcher of a hot 80's duo, "Pop" obviously patterned after "WHAM") and briskly paced by director Marc Lawrence.

The story is light and airy: Fletcher needs help writing a song for a Britney clone, Cora. A song that could maybe bring him back to prominence after twenty years of playing store openings, amusement parks and nostalgia concerts. Sophie, though a partner with her sister in a Weight Loss clinic, is a whiz at writing pop lyrics: presto...match made in heaven!

The interplay between Barrymore and Grant is spot on and the dialogue and story are almost up to their excellent timing but they both work hard, though not too as that would negate the comedy, to make this work and in most scenes it does.

"Music and Lyrics" is as light as a crepe filled with caramelized bananas and topped with whipped cream and as such don't expect more from it than a huge smile and the delicious satisfaction that comes from eating something you have no business consuming.

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Really good romantic comedies are few and far between. 'Music and Lyrics is one of the good ones! Reminiscent of 'The Wedding Singer' with it's parody of the 80's pop scene and also co-starring Drew Barrymore, this smart and funny film features a believable chemistry and relationship between the two leads and not too sappy an ending. The 80's in-jokes are clever and keep this movie from falling into the same traps most bad romantic comedies do. Hugh and Drew are as likable as they ever have been in this romantic musical comedy! The fact that they acually sing the songs in this film make it all the better.

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This is a movie that you'll love forever. Hearing any snippet of the score will give you that happy, sappy feeling that only a great romantic comedy can.

Drew Barrymore is precious as only Drew Barrymore can be, and five minutes into the film I forgot that I never really considered myself a huge fan of Hugh Grant!

Music and Lyrics is everything that a romantic comedy is meant to be and then some. This DVD belongs in your collection!

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From the opening credits, "Music and Lyrics" bounces along and for ninety minutes draws you in to what has to be one of the most charmingly appealing films of the last few years. Everything seems to work here beginning with the simple premise that a has-been songwriter is given a deadline of two days to write a new song for an up-and-coming pop queen...only to discover that he needs a lyricist. And boy, does he find one!

Hugh Grant plays Alex Fletcher, the aging star of the musical group "Pop". With that song deadline looming and down-and-out about his success in completing it on time, in walks Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore) to water his plants. What happens from here on out is pure magic as Alex discovers Sophie's natural talent with lyrics. The film sails along, never letting down, as they work together and discover each other.

I've seen "Music and Lyrics" twice and liked it even better the second time. The supporting cast with Brad Garrett as Alex's tortured manager, Kristen Johnston, as Sophie's neurotic-driven older sister and Haley Bennett as Cora Corman, the new pop sensation, are all terrific. The songs are evocative of another age and work well in support of the film. But it is really the chemistry between Grant and Barrymore that wins the viewer over. Perfectly cast, she plays foil to his gentle, persuasive humor and the end result is sheer joy. I highly recommend "Music and Lyrics". It's a refreshingly funny, witty and wonderful film.

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Disorganized Crime (1989)

There is no way you cannot enjoy this movie, the actors are all absolutely hillarious. (Ruban Blades is by far the best) What, at first, looks like just another run-of-the-mill crime caper, turns into a complicated action-comedy that doesn't have one unlikeable character. (Ed o'neil is also one of the best Characters)

DISORGANIZED CRIME is a movie equivalent to a tv crime comedy. It's all ensemble acting with no one person stealing all of the scenes. All of the actors are very good as different criminal talents put together to execute a perfect crime in a small town. There is just one small problem; the mastermind for all of the other criminals is arrested and cannot put all of the various pieces togrther. The rest of the movie is about the mastermind escaping two funny but incompetent lawman while the leaderless henchmen try to do the job by themselves. Both parts of the movie work well and the ending is funny, ironic, and surprising.

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It cost only 10$. But it's worth 3 times that. I saw this ages ago (just after it came out) and always loved it, so I had to have it for my collection. I dig movies about bumbling thieves too, but these guys aren't the bumbling kind. And besides, the Bank Vault with all that money may motivate the characters in the film, but ultimately it's not about that. Rubén Blades is just so superb in this. His behaviour always provokes fits of laughter. All the actors play off each other so well, whether it's the late Fred Gwynne, Young Guns' Lou Diamond Phillips, or Ed O'Neill from TV's Married With Children. I really can't recommend this more. It doesn't play like the usual caper, because the humour isn't necessarily in great jokes or great physical stunts or the like. The laughs come from the dynamics between the characters their interaction and communication with one another; it's in how they say things, their facial expressions. Subtleties. And all this from actors who don't earn 20 million per picture. Plus, you know, it cost only 10$!

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This movie is an obscure, totally forgotten comedy from 1989 but its one of the funniest movies Ive ever seen.

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This is one of my favorite movies when I'm in the mood for comedy. Lots of recognizable faces. Witty. Many memorable lines and moments. The character personalities and character interaction is priceless. I guarantee you'll laugh out loud.

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Heart Specialist (2006)

I am a filmmaker. I understand the complexities when it comes to having an idea for a film and executing it. I understand that. But let's be honest, this film isn't at all what you expected it to be. For me, the film made me realize that not all African-American comedies are sheer foolishness. This story is simple, sweet, and at times, very funny. The acting was good from the principal cast, better than I thought it would be (especially from Wood Harris; he proves time after time that he is capable of taking on the most unusual and unique roles).

To the reviews based on the film in general, you don't have to like (or review) every film you see. I don't like a lot of films for different reasons, whether it's based on the script, the acting, the directing, cinematography, etc. -but, that's not the issue here. The issue is the audience and lack of a critical response to what they felt went wrong with the film as a whole.

Movie makers want movie goers to appreciate their art, even respect it. So when I read these reviews on the film saying it was a "snooze fest" and "boring film", and the like, I get frustrated because I know how hard it is to get a project (especially a film project) executed. It's like a final exam. You study for it, get the test and read through all the questions thoroughly, and then answer them. You may get some answers right and wrong, but the main focus is the final grade. For those who misunderstood this analogy: the film is the final exam, the studying is the production, the questions represent the bad and good things about the film (acting, script, etc.), and the final grade is the feedback. So what do you have when you have unanswered questions to a test you didn't study for? You obviously get a bad film, but this film is far from bad. It is entirely watchable and different, opposed to the Tyler Perry flicks that make money for its buffoonery and post-modern minstrel shows.

"The Heart Specialist" gives me hope that African-American comedies will survive because for one, I'm not much of a comedy fan, and two, not much of a comedy fan with an all-black cast. The film made over $1M at the box office, but I have no idea what the budget was, so I can't say whether or not it was successful overall.

As mentioned, not all films should be hammered based on whether you liked it or not. I'm sure people want to read critical reviews instead of "I-just-didn't-like-it" commentaries. This is where we fail as an audience. Respect the art or invent something new so people can critique you, and we'll see how much you can take. This comedy-drama is one of the best films I have seen, and thanks to the director for standing out and doing something different. Intelligence does indeed pay off.

Does every movie have to be judged by the standards of "the Hollywood package"? I think not. I think there's definatly room for movies like this that don't fit neatly into a little pidgeon-hole of "drama" where there are no laughs or "comedy" where everything's slap-stick. This movie more closely resembles life: you have to laugh at things that are too overwhelming for tears; on the other side of laughter you find an amazing lesson that sticks with you and changes you like no lecture ever could. Not to mention that things happen sometimes that are just....je'n se pas.

Young intern Ray Howard (Brian White) has followed his heart and a woman to Florida's "Mediocre Memorial" despite his blue-blood Harvard education and all its promise. Good-looking and well-educated, he is, or is about to be, a man who can have anything. Or is he? As he encounters one brick wall after another he is noticed by the dynamic duo of Donna (Zoe Saldana) and Dr. Z (Wood Harris) who decide he is worthy of rescuing and mentoring. What Dr Howard learns about "swagger", true friendship, compassion and especially, laughter are things Harvard could never have taught him.

The relationships in Heart Condition make it a must-see. Dr. Z and Donna"s is rare among on film romances and superbly done, as the the brotherhood that develops between Dr. Z and Ray. Also unique and quirky are the marriages--watch for Marla Gibbs and Ed Asner.

The twist is saved for the end where we have to get serious--but just for a minute. I admit I shed a tear, (my criteria for how good a movie is)and I was inclined to "groove at my own risk" at the end with a terrific cast!

Other movies you might like if you liked this one: Holiday Heart and Wonderful Life.

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I'm honestly not too surprised that some found this movie a little slow. It doesn't follow what seems to be the standard cliche for "African American" comedy dramas, IMO. That is, absurd drama, stereotypes, a measure of preaching and even more over-the-top drama followed up with an illogical ending all the while with sprinkles of black culture throughout and slapstick. While there was admittedly some level of 'preach' here, it wasn't so different than any other movie and I felt it was well done in the various subtle ways due ot the characters' interaction.

I will try not to give too many spoilers away but warn that I might, so you may want to skip to the end of the review if you don't want to know too much. The synopsis was already well described, the main characters are Ray, Donna and Dr. Zachary (Sidney), played by Brian White (JoJo White's son!), Zoe Saldana and Wood Harris. The story is about a young doctor trying to find his way and the pieces of his heart after following it to an under-funded hospital in Florida. In the aftermath, he learns quite a bit about heart, people, love and maybe most importantly, taking himself so seriously. Who you originally think could be the main character of the movie ends up not really being the one though it's hard to argue against the person being the most important in the movie. In the end I too have to admit, it takes a dramatic turn that actually makes sense but still (spoiler.... warning....) leaves you reflecting on the characters.

I actually really liked this movie but then again I'm a fan of Wood Harris. He comes across as extremely down to Earth in this role like he did in "Remember The Titan's" and does a fantastic job with the material. Though comedy was probably branching out for him, he held his own. Zoe was charming as well and Brian White played her part very nicely too. But in the end it was Wood Harris' delivery as Dr. Zachary that really delivered and perhaps the most special moment of the movie came at the most dramatic to me at least. The characters come across as very real, not necessarily the pedestal's in Hollywood film. To buy the movie may be a stretch and I'd say if you're looking for an enthralling, dramatic stereotyped movie you'll be disappointed. It does however make me look forward to Wood's portrayal of Sweetwater in a year or two. Oh and it was good to see Scott Paulin (ER) here, Method Mad had a cameo and Mya was on briefly as well.

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This was a good movie with a great plot and storyline, a very refreshing twist to the traditional love story.

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Excellent movie had me laughing and crying!! it is great to see movies about African Americans even if it isn't in the movie theater, thank you Red Box rental for also making this possible this is where I watched The Heart Specialist!

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Steve Byrne: The Byrne Identity (2009)

This is one of the best comedy specials I have ever seen. It will blow you away. I'm getting the DVD because I have seen him live and I know he has tons of other material that wasn't even aired! If you like to laugh, buy this DVD!

The Steve Byrne Identity is INCREDIBLY funny! His jokes are original and he finds a way to relate to ANY audience member! The act is very well written which makes this his best special yet. So many of the jokes had me in tears. You will definitely be missing out on some great laughs if you do not purchase this DVD. There are also parts of his act that are included on the bonus features of this DVD that you must see!

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This is the best comedy DVD I have bought to date. Steve is hilarious! His jokes are intelligent and so entertaining! My cheeks hurt from laughing so much. I'm definitely glad I made this purchase. And to the other person who was so offended by the joke about Titanic. First of all, these are JOKES. Second, this joke is not about the people who were killed during the Holocaust but about how Hollywood is repeatedly creating movies about the Holocaust year after year when there are other tragedies that have happened or are happening that never get made into movies. Bottom line: The Byrne Identity is an EXCELLENT DVD!!!

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I'm just going to come right out and say it: I'm cheap. I will stalk ebay so I can buy a movie for a dollar. I will rummage through boxes at yard sales and haggle to get ten dvds for the price of a cheeseburger. I will slip movies into my purse at the homes of my friends and return them a week later. I have never paid full price for a dvd...

Until now.

I've seen Steve live a couple times and he has always put on an incredible show (at one of them, I even got to be part of the act. For those who have purchased the dvd, I got to be the lucky lady for the last part. For those who haven't, well... now you have to buy it to get in on the secret. Trust me, it's hilarious). After I caught part of his special on Comedy Central, I knew my purchase would be well worth it. There's some hilarious stuff that didn't make it onto TV, so if you're on the fence about buying this: fear not, it is worth every penny.

Steve is observant, intelligent, and witty. This is especially showcased on this DVD. He takes some of today's relevant issues and puts a comedic spin on them, making the material on this DVD something a good humored audience can identify with.

Buy the dvd. You won't regret it!

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Buy this dvd only if you truly love great comedy done by a well spoken & slightly twisted person! Awesome follow up to "Happy Hour" Well done Mr. Byrne!

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