In it, Grant plays a washed up 80’s popstar whose musical output is not far from that of Wham, and Barrymore plays his irrepressibly cute houseplant-waterer nee aspiring pop song lyricist. Without even telling you anything more than that, you know where the story is going and where it will end before it ever gets there, so the reason to watch is not for plot but for the washed up popstar theme which is nicely explored.
The film opens with the video from Grant’s 80’s band Pop and their hit single “Pop Goes My Heart” which is complete with every 80’s stereotype all in one place: black and white checkerboard outfits; uninspired synchronized dance steps; an appalling narrative
and Grant with an awesomely floppy early 80’s hairdo. From there we get to see Grant perform at a number of embarrassing venues, high school reunions and amusement parks and get offered a spot on a very VH1 looking show where has-been popstars box each other for the right to sing a new song at the end of the show. Grant’s fabulous lines about said show include: “I’m pretty sure I can take A Flock of Seagulls because we once toured with them and we beat them then and they cried like a bunch of babies” and “Did anyone see battle of the has-beens last night? That Debbie Gibson sure can take a punch.” Oh if only. It’s light fare, and you’ll want to plan your bathroom breaks to coincide with most of the musical numbers which are mostly terrible and sung quite poorly by Grant, who should stick to being English and chappish and aging rather sexily rather than attempting to croon in any place other than his shower ever again.
Again, I may be a girl, but so is 52% of the population you know.
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