WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:02:00.000
My husband and daughter have both been asking me to cover this movie for months. Seven months of him saying, Jen, Music and Lyrics, when are you gonna do it? I wasn't sure because there are a few scenes that are anything but wholesome, but my husband said just tell them about those parts. The rest, come on. It's a fantastic film. So here it is. Welcome to Wholesome TV Picks. I'm your host, Jennifer Avila, and this is the only podcast where every recommendation is backed by 35 plus years of watching wholesome TV your family can actually trust. Let's get into today's episode. My husband's and my favorite rom-com is Music and Lyrics starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. This movie is about a has-been eighties star who has a chance to make a comeback by writing a song called Way Back Into Love by a Shakira slash Britney Spears type singer who was a fan of his in his heyday for a band called Pop. The problem is Alex doesn't write lyrics. He says it only worked with his former partner, and so he needs a lyricist. His publicist hires this guy who writes a revenge kind of a song — not exactly what you'd expect for a song titled Way Back Into Love. In comes Sophie Fisher, played by Drew Barrymore, who's just there to water Alex's plants. She overhears the lyricist and Alex working on the song, and she ends up uttering her own words to the melody that Alex is playing on the piano.

00:02:00.001 --> 00:04:00.000
It shocks Alex Fletcher. After 15 minutes of going back and forth with her, he really believes she is a natural born lyricist, despite her beliefs to the contrary. They end up partnering together and the whole movie is about them writing the song. You'll have so many laugh out loud moments with your spouse that will just make you feel good and happy all around. Especially if you grew up in the eighties like I did. If you didn't, you're in for a treat because this film does an amazing job of taking you back to the eighties. My daughter loves this movie too because she's a mini me when it comes to eighties music, and this film crew did an amazing job creating a brand new eighties music video for a song called Pop Goes My Heart, which is the intro of this movie. It is so funny. In Alex Fletcher's words: it's spot on. They got every detail of eighties music video history — the cheesiness, the hair, the dance moves, the background, the visual effects, the corny storylines. I'm an eighties music fanatic and I know a lot of those videos were cheesy when you look back at them today, but we love them. It's a shame music like this isn't made anymore. You'll experience the entire music writing process in this film, which both my daughter and I greatly appreciate as we are both learning musical instruments. I'm trying to learn the piano, she's trying to learn the guitar. I always wonder — how do they come up with the melody, the right tones, the right pitch, and all that stuff that goes into it?

00:04:00.001 --> 00:06:00.000
I love the analogy that Sophie Fisher uses in this movie to describe how important lyrics are. When Alex says that lyrics don't mean anything, she tells him: the melody is like the instant attraction to somebody, but the lyrics — that's the person's song, who they are, their soul. That is such a great analogy. There is a ton of humor in this movie. At the very beginning stages they're kind of in this writer's block and Alex is gently pecking out the Jeopardy theme song. Sophie tells him, that's really helpful. It goes all night and then the next morning she tells Alex she thinks they should get some breakfast. He says nope, we're on a roll. We need to get another line. And she says, there will be no more rhymes until I'm fed. Then he gives this look and she says, I could be inspired with just a piece of bread. I just love those lines. Sophie's quick wit in this movie totally reminds me of my husband, who has ruined so many of my favorite eighties songs with his humor. I can't listen to these songs anymore because my husband and my sons are always singing the lyrics he made up. For instance, the classic Then He Kissed Me by The Crystals — my husband changed it to And Then He Kicked Me. Another song called Counting My Lucky Stars by Larry Bagby, who also happened to be in Hocus Pocus as Ernie AKA Ice. It's also sung on an episode of Cold Case, which is another fabulous show for couples to watch together. My husband changed the lyrics to Counting My Lucky Charms, like the cereal. My kids love it but it bugs the snot out of me. This quick wit humor is exactly what you hear in Music and Lyrics.

00:06:00.001 --> 00:08:00.000
After watching this, you may feel your older child or children may enjoy it as well. I would recommend it for children 11 and up. But here are the things I deem inappropriate for my children. One, a kissing scene between Alex and Sophie that leads to implied intimacy. The singer I mentioned earlier, Cora Corman, has a few scenes where she's dressed very scantily and the way she dances is very sexually charged in my opinion. I don't want my daughter seeing it, so we skip it. My daughter knows the routine — she knows the lines in the movie that signal her to ask, mom, is this the part where I close my eyes? And I'll tell her yes. She either looks away, I mute it, or I fast forward through it. Later, when she's singing Way Back Into Love, she ruins it and turns it into this Indian kind of rap song that she sings for Alex and Sophie in the middle of the movie, with orgasmic sounds added in. We skip that too. And in the final concert scene the dancing is very inappropriate for children in my opinion. I will say my daughter does briefly see how Cora is dressed, and it has led to a conversation about how inappropriate it is to wear the kinds of things Cora wears, the influence it has on young girls who idolize celebrities, and how young girls want to be like their role models. If you want more TV show recommendations sent right to your inbox, already organized, join my email list. I've got everything broken down — no scrolling through the entire catalog, just instant access to the full list.

00:08:00.001 --> 00:10:00.000
I've been to many retro artists concerts in the past. I love Richard Marx, Bryan Adams, Journey, and I've shared many stories with my husband about my previous concert experiences. There's a scene in this movie where Sophie is at her sister's house — Rhonda, played by Kristen Johnston — and Sophie tells her how she met Alex from the band Rhonda loved and how he invited her to come see him perform that night. The second Rhonda hears this she's hyperventilating. Before Sophie can even finish her sentence, Rhonda yells, Gary, I'm going out! She runs out of the room, grabs her jacket, runs back into the kitchen, yanks her sister by the arm, and jets out of the apartment. This scene always makes my husband turn to my kids and say, that's your mom. And my kids laugh and say, yep, that's mom. I give my husband the evil eye because I don't think so. They always say, yeah, okay, mom, whatever you say. This is the kind of movie that just makes you forget about the chaos of the world. A way to escape and take your mind off your problems for just an hour and a half. It will leave you in a better mood than when you started watching it. My husband and I saw this when it came out in the theater back in 2006. This movie will turn 20 years old next year. Time flies by so fast. We always remember what theater we went to and where we went out to eat afterwards. There's just something magical about this movie that I can't put my finger on.

00:10:00.001 --> 00:11:30.000
The biggest takeaway I want you to have from this movie is don't forget to take time to nurture your relationship with your spouse. Take time to sit down, relax, and veg out to this movie, and escape from the chaos of the world right now. Remember what I said in the episode towards the end of The Incredible Journey a couple of weeks ago, that we all need to slow down and remember to be with the ones who love us. Coming up next week, I'm spotlighting an eighties animated TV series that I have a feeling most of you have never heard of, and you may be surprised that it was actually something shown on network television. Thanks for listening. Have a great rest of your week. Remember, your values matter and your TV should too. I'll catch you on the next episode.