Music And Lyrics / Le Come-back

The Comeback

I can’t remember what programme I was watching recently, and 2 of the characters were at the cinema and this was on the screen.

It took me a while to remember what film it was from, and it was Music and Lyrics, which prompted me to watch the film again. I feel slightly shameful saying this, but I found it quite funny (for a romantic comedy). In fact, this is one of the better rom-coms I have seen in a while. Hugh has really funny lines in this.

It’s the story of “A washed up singer (Hugh Grant) who is given a couple days to compose a chart-topping hit for an aspiring teen sensation. Though he's never written a decent lyric in his life, he sparks with an offbeat younger woman with a flair for words (Drew Barrymore).”

Needless to say, that not only be the song wonderful and all, but also Hugh and Drew will fall madly in love blahblah (yeah, I like my clichés sometimes :P).

Hugh has really funny lines in this.

Music and Lyrics is a simple title. Hugh writes the music, Drew, the lyrics, showing it is about 2 distinct aspect of one thing, a song. If it wasn’t, they would have called the film “The Song”, which would have worked too, since it’s what they need to produce.

Why does “Le come-back” bother me? Well, because it only focuses on Hugh’s character, which betrays (sort of) the spirit of the original title. It’s not about that 2 sides of the same coin thing, but it just covers one aspect of one of the characters.

Why not call it “Musique et paroles”, or more accurately “Paroles et musique” - which is the order things usually go in French? Because “Paroles et musique” is a 1984 French film starring Catherine Deneuve and Christophe Lambert, which I remember seeing ages ago and which did not leave a good impression on my little self... 

I am really not surprised the new film didn't want to be confused with the old one...