Movie review

  • 2007-03-21
Music and Lyrics
Arthur and the Minimoys

Music and Lyrics
In "Music and Lyrics" Hugh Grant plays Alex Fletcher, a has-been 80s pop star living rather pathetically off his past fame. Alex is given a chance to write a hit song for teen sensation Cora (Haley Bennett). But he hasn't written anything for years, and so recruits his oddball plant lady Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore) who seems to have a knack for lyrics. "Music and Lyrics" is a romantic comedy for the brain dead. Watching Grant and Barrymore exchange dialogue, I felt like an astronaut searching for signs of life on a distant planet. Furniture has more chemistry than this vacant duo. When they co-write songs, it's like watching cavemen struggle to formulate the first monosyllables. "Figuring out you and me is like doing a love autopsy. They could operate all day long and never figure out what went wrong" is a sample of their limitless talent. To be fair, there are some amusing moments. The opening sequence in which Alex's band performs their hit single in an 80s-style music video is worth a few laughs. And the satirical scenes of Eastern-inspired Cora are comical. At one performance, she arrives onstage by exiting the backside of a giant golden Buddha. For the most part though, "Music and Lyrics" is entirely forgettable.
( Sherwin Das )

The most impressive thing about "Music and Lyrics" is how shrewdly it exploits the thoroughly predictable formula of the romantic comedy. Drew Barrymore plays a quirky plant sitter who meets has-been 80s pop star Hugh Grant after filling in for a sick colleague and showing up at his apartment to water his plants (no character names necessary here). Hugh Grant has three days to write a new song for Cora Corman, the biggest pop act on the planet, but he can't find the right lyricist to work with. Happily, he soon discovers that Drew is a "born lyricist" and together they churn out the perfect song and fall in love to boot. By using the construction of a trashy love song as part of the plot, "Music and Lyrics" cleverly gives itself some room for cynicism while at the same time using every trick in the book to make you root for the inevitable happy ending. There are some very funny moments and the mock 80s pop video at the beginning is worth seeing the film for just by itself. But despite its knowing nods and winks. "Music and Lyrics" is every bit as cynical and vapid as the pop-culture it pretends to mock.
( Tim Ochser )


Arthur and the Minimoys
"Arthur et les Minimoys" is a children's story about a little boy, Arthur (Freddie Highmore of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "A Good Year" fame), who loves hearing stories about his long lost adventurer grandfather's exploits. When he and his Granny risk losing their house as a result of financial troubles, Arthur decides to take matters into his own hands. Aided by clues his grandad left behind, Arthur makes his way to the land of the tiny Minimoys in search of treasure. There he meets an assortment of good and evil characters including the King and his lovely daughter Princess Selenia, and is challenged with protecting the vulnerable Minimoys against their nemesis. Part live action and part computer animation, "Arthur et les Minimoys" is an unsophisticated mishmash of numerous popular children's classics. The film has a strictly by-the-numbers plot, and while the wondrous animation may please children, there's little here for adults in terms of humor or plot. Take away the animation and we've seen this film a thousand times before. Although she's in her 60s, Mia Farrow doesn't quite feel like the grandmother type. And watching child actors reprise their cute schtick again and again is about as enjoyable as watching a trained seal.
( Sherwin Das )

I was surprised to see that "Arthur and the Minimoys" received such bad reviews right across the board. Personally, I thought it was a rather charming, original and at times bold children's movie. The story sees 10-year-old Arthur (Freddie Highmore) trying to save him and his granny (played by Mia Farrow) from imminent eviction by going in search of some hidden rubies in the land of the Minimoys, which just so happens to be in his front yard. After being miniaturized in some sort of moonlight ritual, he is transported to their minuscule world and the action switches to animation. Arthur immediately falls in love with Princess Selenia (voiced by Madonna) and together they set off to find the rubies and vanquish the Minimoy's greatest enemy, Maltazard (voiced by David Bowie). Perhaps people have grown too accustomed to the ultra-slick CGI animation of Pixar to be able to appreciate something as obviously rough and flawed as this movie. But I imagine children would enjoy it, and that's what matters. That most critics didn't like it is probably more a reflection on how dulled and jaded the average adult imagination has become. This may not be cutting-edge animation but it's still good fun. 
( Tim Ochser )
 

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