music & lyrics

Oh so sad! This movie looked very cute and charming (as all Hugh Grant movies must be) but its execution is bad, bad, bad. The story had a cute concept at its core (80's new wave has-been works to make a career comeback finding love in the meantime) and the cast had strong comedic talent (Grant, Drew Barrymore, Brad Garret and Kristen Johnston). The result is oddly off beat (and I don't mean indie off beat, I mean tone deaf off beat). I did find it amusing that the story focuses on a Brit 80's pop star who was in a band that appears to be a mixture of WHAM, Flock of Seagulls, Ah-Ha and most other new wave bands played on WLIR in its heyday. The amusing part to me is that the side story keeps taking place on Long Island where WLIR introduced a generation (including me) to all that new wave music. I see the writer/director was born in Brooklyn and went to school at SUNY Binghamton (my alma mater and also a popular school for Long Islanders who wanted to see the world). I'm not sure what's more embarrassing: being the stereotype portrayed by Kristen Johnston or the fact that this dreck came from a fellow alum. Wait...yes I do.... the latter is far more embarrassing.
Favorite moment: Alex trying to confront Sloan.
Film #98