Music and Lyrics Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Music and Lyrics Blu-ray Movie Review

Battle of the romantic comedy stars.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 3, 2008

It’s the combination of the two that makes it magic.

Perhaps no other genre in the history of motion pictures has struck more fear into the hearts of males around the world as the "chick flick." Released on Valentines Day 2007, Music and Lyrics is another in a rapidly growing list of "chic" chick flick romantic comedies staring either Hugh Grant or Drew Barrymore. As far as these types of films go, in the eye of this reviewer who continuously teases his wife about her affection for such films, I must admit that Music and Lyrics is one of the more tolerable of the genre. I'd never choose to watch this type of film on my own (I'd rather be watching something like I Am Legend or Full Metal Jacket or Monday Night Football), but I was never pulling my hair out in agony over this one as I have during a few others.

Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore sing the praises of the romantic comedy genre.

The film stars Hugh Grant (Notting Hill) as Alex Fletcher, one half of a washed up 1980s pop sensation duo known as PoP!. While his band mate went on to bigger and better things, Alex has found himself struggling in the music industry, almost lowering himself to appearing on a celebrity boxing show entitled "Battle of the 1980s Has-Beens." His debut solo album has sold so poorly that the same copy has been on the shelf at the record store he frequents for six years. As fate would have it, however, pop diva and teen sensation Cora (Haley Bennett in her film debut) is a PoP! fan and asks Alex to write a song for her new album. He and his lyricist cannot come up with anything, but the girl who suddenly replaces his usual plant waterer (people hire other people to water their plants?) can. She is Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore, 50 First Dates) and though she is reluctant at first to write, she finally agrees and I'd bet an autographed Alex Fletcher CD that you can guess what happens from here on out.

I've always been perplexed when it comes to romantic comedies. They are so predictable in nature that even when I watch them with my wife I can tell her immediately what's going to happen, and not just that the main characters are going to fall in love by the end of the movie. This is the ultimate cookie cutter genre, and the only thing that changes is the setting. The stories and characters are all interchangeable. That's not to say they are all bad. Like any genre, you have your good and bad examples, and Music and Lyrics is one of the better ones if only because it is mostly tolerable from a guy's perspective. There is a scene in the movie where Alex is performing at a 20 year high school reunion. Every girl in the building is hovering around the stage, yelling and cheering and vying for a chance to touch Alex. The men sit in the back of the room, witnessing the event with glassy look in their eyes, wondering what the appeal is. This was a fabulous scene and it sums up the movie and the genre perfectly. I'm glad the girls have their movies. My wife has no problem watching most guy movies with me, and I'm very fortunate in that regard. She can have her chick flicks, and if they all prove to be as tolerable as Music and Lyrics from here on out, I'll be a happy man.

Music and Lyrics Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Warner's 1080p, 1.85:1 presentation of Music and Lyrics on Blu-ray proved to be a rather typical looking high definition image. This one is merely "good enough" and will likely please its target audience, but those looking for a 5 star knockout of a transfer will be disappointed with this one. This is a wholly flat and uninspired image. It exhibits some softness throughout but detail, clarity, and sharpness do not suffer too badly as a result. Flesh tones appeared accurate but I felt that colors on the whole appeared drab and muted. I didn't note any issues with black levels. This is one of those transfers that will forever be lost to obscurity, one that is neither remarkable for its greatness nor one that is memorable for being a disaster. Like the movie, it suffices in doing its job and nothing more. When it comes to a film like Music and Lyrics, you really cannot ask for anything more.

Music and Lyrics Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

You would think that a movie with the word "music" in the title would come with a high definition soundtrack on Blu-ray, but once again Warner favors the lowest common denominator by suppling only a Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Even with the musical numbers throughout and the main attraction of the Cora concert at the end, Music and Lyrics is a dialogue driven romantic comedy and as such it sounds alright. Speaking of dialogue, it came across as well as I expected, never muffled and always sounding natural and lifelike. The track offers very little in the way of ambience and surrounds go virtually unused. Even the loud concert sequence at the end of the film is a disappointment. Bass is nearly nonexistent and compared to real-life concerts on Blu-ray like Shakira: Oral Fixation Tour, the sound is tiny, uninspired, and severely lacking in punch and authority that I expected. This is a disappointing sound mix to say the least, and I don't think even an uncompressed track could have saved this one from the depths of mediocrity.

Music and Lyrics Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Men, rejoice. There aren't many supplements here for your wife or girlfriend to force you into watching. First up is the HBO First Look piece, Note For Note: The Making of 'Music and Lyrics' (480p, 13:02). This is a typical studio sanctioned promotional piece that features the cast and crew talking up the movie with numerous clips thrown in throughout that, for the most part, recap the entire movie. Next is a fictitious PoP! Goes My Heart music video (480p, 2:33). Finally, a gag reel (480p, 4:12) and several deleted scenes (480p, 11:07) finish off this short list of supplements.

Music and Lyrics Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Much like The Holiday, Music and Lyrics is a tolerable chick flick that follows the same tired formula but manages to spice it up just enough to pass as tolerable for male audiences. Your mileage may vary, but it's good for men to find one or two girly movies that they can tolerate for those times when you want to impress the wife or girlfriend by choosing to watch one of her movies on special occasions or for those "whenever" moments to score a few points. Perhaps she'll return the favor by watching I Am Legend and 28 Days Later with you as my wife did, both on the same day no less. This disc is mostly a disappointment technically with less than stellar video and subpar audio quality, not to mention the brevity of the supplements. Nevertheless, this is a fun little movie that would be a great gift for that special girl in your life. Recommended as such.