Music and Lyrics (2007)

Enjoyable romantic comedy directed by Marc Lawrence. 

A 1980s pop idol named Alex (Hugh Grant) is tasked with writing a song for a Shakira-like pop star of the present day (Haley Bennett). To achieve this he ends up collaborating with Sophie (Drew Barrymore), the slightly eccentric woman who comes round to water his plants. 

Plot-wise it might sound silly (and indeed it is), but Hugh ’n’ Drew have real chemistry. Also, they get to reel off some genuinely funny lines. 

The film seems to lose its way a little about two thirds of the way through, with a couple of rather misjudged scenes. For example, why does Sophie take a box of biscuits to the party? It seems to be setting up a joke, but there’s no pay off. Was a vital bit of the script cut at the last minute?

Thankfully, the film recovers before the end. 

Kristen Johnston is easy to like as Rhonda, Sophie’s sister. Grant is surprisingly effective as a pop star, and his song and dance routines are all quirky and enjoyable.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)

Biopic directed by George Clooney. That fact alone sets alarm bells ringing – I couldn’t finish his film Leatherheads (2008) and I barely got through The Monuments Men (2014), as they were simply too self-conscious and annoying. He’s fine at surface-level tricksiness, but there’s little emotional depth and his “funny” scenes fall flat. 

This film is marginally better. Chuck Barris (played by Sam Rockwell) is a successful TV producer who also kills people for the CIA. He’s recruited by George Clooney, works alongside Julia Roberts and is in a relationship with Drew Barrymore. 

The story is interesting, and Rockwell and Barrymore have real chemistry together, but Clooney’s direction is awkward and gimmicky. He regularly changes filters and keeps reminding you that you’re watching a film, rather than simply letting you become immersed in it. 

The film dodges perhaps the most interesting aspect of Rockwell’s life – the possibility that all of his CIA deeds were completely invented and never took place. That would have made for a whole extra dimension to the story, but it seems that Clooney is a hamfisted director who just couldn’t quite handle the material.

Donnie Darko (2001)

Richard Kelly’s deeply enigmatic, fascinating film straddles psychological thriller and horror-tinged mind-bender. Donnie is a troubled teenager who encounters a creature in a rabbit costume. This creature tells him that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. As that countdown progresses, he continues to visit the boy and advise him on his actions, which become increasingly extreme. 

Meditations on the nature of time, reality and identity are set against the backdrop of an American suburb. The film develops several other strands: Patrick Swayze is the too-good-to-be-true motivational speaker Jim Cunningham, who has a polarising effect on the town, while Drew Barrymore is a school teacher too open-minded for the culture of the school. There’s also lots about Donnie’s family, who love him without understanding him. 

The ending can be taken multiple ways and I’m not sure you’re even meant to fully “understand” it. Instead, you are left with a glimpse into a powerful, multilayered world beneath or behind the one we take for granted. 

Jake Gyllenhaal is superb as the main character. His face has to convey menace, fear, amusement and confusion, and does so brilliantly. Katharine Ross is excellent as Donnie’s psychiatrist, Dr. Lillian Thurman. But, as with all great films, there’s not a single performance that could be improved upon.