How accommodating of the characters in Music and Lyrics to point out what, taste-wise, is “good” and “bad.” The treacly ballad with music written by washed-up ’80s pop star (of the band “Pop”) Alex (Hugh Grant) and lyrics by his ditzy plant waterer, Sophie (Drew Barrymore), is “good.” But the part-rap, part–Ravi Shankar interpretation by superstar Cora Corman (Haley Bennett), a Spears/Aguilera/Jewel fusion with Zen pretensions, is “bad.” Alex, desperate for a comeback, wants to “sell out” by going along with the “bad” version, but Sophie insists on remaining true to their art (which she has been practicing for less than a week). Can they work it out and fall in love as in all “good” romantic comedies? Actually, I kind of liked the “bad” version of the song, but except for some of Grant’s bon mots and the fleeting moments when music and lyrics nearly jell, as in a real musical, that’s about all that’s good in this movie.
