A Brilliant Conflict

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

It's a fun movie. Kinda like the romantic musicals that used to be staples, which seems to be a detriment to a lot of reviewers here.But the script is also wickedly smart, with stuff that remains topical, because a story about an '80s generation pop star trying to please a millennial generation pop star with "music and lyrics" dreamt up on the fly says a lot about the meaning of being... a creative person who is just trying to pay their rent/find love.Ya know. Silly stuff like pursuing your dreams, and why people ever dream to begin with....

The come back is a great movie which tells a sweet and modern love story.Hugh Grant is hilarious (especially when he starts swinging his hips) Obviously we would all love to see Hugh Grant performing on stage a love song destined to us, what an amazing moment it would be! Drew Barrymore is so lucky.It feels good to reconnect with the 80's, plus the musics are surprisingly very good (I can't stop singing "I said I wasn't gonna lose my head, but then pop! Goes my heaaaarrttt...)I spent a very good moment watching this movie which gives us an idea of how hard can the music industry be.Morality of the story: you never know where and how love can strike!

Hugh Grant acquits himself admirably in this half-hearted music biz satire-cum-romantic comedy, which has too many targets, too few jokes and totally unreal characters. A 1980s pop music has-been, a singer/keyboardist once part of a bubblegum outfit called PoP, has recently been commissioned to write a song for the reigning teen-queen on the charts; he likes the randomly delivered lyrics thought up by his substitute 'plant waterer' and they form a songwriting partnership. Drew Barrymore's gregarious personality would appear to be the perfect counterpoint to Grant's dry witticisms, but the dim brand of 'cute' writing here leaves Barrymore stranded. She attempts to fall back on her patented charm and pluck, yet this is the kind of silly screenplay wherein her Sophie Fisher can quickly rattle off rhyming sentences yet suffers a complete block when faced with her nemesis (a best-selling author who...oh, never mind). The strongest aspect of the movie turns out to be the songs, which have an authentically retro feel and almost manage to convince us that Grant could have been another Andrew Ridgeley. *1/2 from ****

I really enjoyed this film. The writer clearly understands what its like to be a musician and the people who scored the 80s music did a great job of getting the sound just right. The casting was spot on and both Grant and Barrymore were the right people for the characters. I was also impressed by how Haley Bennett managed to switch from a hyper-sexualized character to one that is almost a-sexual and unreadable. I imagine that's also partly the result of the director's efforts on this film. If there's anything I know well, it's the 80s. It's never easy to get the feel of a past decade's music and style quite right. However, this film manages to nail it right on the head. Watching the behind the scenes material on the DVD, I can see that they referenced the right material in order to get the look and feel correct. Going overboard worked in their favour, since the New Wave era was pretty extreme -- to say the least. Finally, I have to say that I found myself laughing my head off. This really is a funny movie. Worth seeing, even if you're not really into romantic comedies.