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BY MAGGIE SCOTT

If you flew solo in the skies of romance this Valentine’s Day, you could do worse than helping your lonely heart by making a date with Hugh Grant or Drew Barrymore at the movies watching the new comedy, “Music & Lyrics.”

She’s not quite as good as Comden and Green and he’s doing solo gigs at apple butter festivals and state fairs after being part of one of the biggest pop groups of the 1980s. She’s a plant sitter and he’s doing his best to duck offers to appear on Battle of the 80s Has-Been’s (even though it could be bigger than “American Idol”).

Sophie Fisher (Barrymore) has a way with words and writes slogans for her sister’s weight loss company. She has a little more trouble with the spoken variety when she comes to water the plants at Alex Fletcher’s apartment and awkwardly interrupts him anxiously working on an assignment to write a duet for pop rock diva, Cora Corman (Sophia remembers Alex fondly because his music helped her get through her parents’ divorce when she was a kid).

Cora (Haley Bennett) is asking for something catchy built around the refrain, “a way back into love.” While Alex sweats over the piano keys, Sophie’s way with those words as she plies her watering can sends the hired lyricist packing in a huff and Alex exclaiming that she’s “a Cole Porter in panties.”

Flustered and surprisingly modest about what is clearly a gift, Sophie cautiously agrees to work with Alex putting together Cora’s song.
They’ve only got a few days to get it done; so it’s 24/7 work, with breaks for walks and personal disclosures. They discover such things as Alex’s only solo CD can be found in the mark-down bin at the record stores; and that Sophie’s married ex-boyfriend has done a hatchet job on her and their relationship in his best-selling novel (soon to be a movie).

Sophie’s still smarting from his accusation that she was just an “imitation of a writer” riding his coat tails. What Sophie doesn’t want to see and Alex is too enamored to see is that she may be afraid to stand on her own two feet.

Feeling protective after a bruising encounter with her ex, Alex lets her know he would like them to experience a more intimate partnership. Now that it’s personal, the fate of their song means even more to Sophie; and when she discovers that Cora is thinking of sexing the music up with sitars and shimmying, she lets Alex know that she won’t be part of him compromising the song.

A mixed bag of delights, with Grant looking a bit long in the tooth (which, granted he’s supposed to) to be squiring the still baby-faced Barrymore. The music is catchy, particularly as used in the opening montage of Alex’s bubblegum boy band belting their smash hit “Pop Goes My Heart” in an MTV style music video complete with pastel colors and split screens.

Barrymore and Grant join the ranks of other classic cinematic squabblers; and their charming vocals complete performances that are guaranteed heart stealers. Village Roadshow Picture, Warner Bros.

Picture release, rated PG-13 for sexual content.
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