 Review
by the Groovy Yak
If you’re like me, you probably were quite
excited upon hearing the news that Elfman would be returning to his soft
and sentimental sound that he popularized with scores like Edward Scissorhands,
Sommersby, and Good Will Hunting with his latest score, The Family Man.
For being more of a Halloween type of guy, Elfman also seems to have a
real knack for scoring Christmas-themed movies. (Edward Scissorhands,
The Nightmare Before Christmas, Scrooged) The Family Man definitely fits
into both categories- a sentimental (if not sappy) Christmas movie.
It’s a travesty then for
Elfman fans that no score album has been released as of this writing for
the film. Two Elfman tracks appear on a song-dominated release and to
be honest, they’re two of the better tracks in the score. We Elfman fans
deserve more than that, though. (Not to say that Elfman is responsible
for a lack of a score-only release. Due to the film’s less-then-stellar
performance, I’m sure a score-only album was economically infeasible.)
However, thanks to the Academy Awards promo, we can get a much larger
taste of this gorgeous score.
The promo contains 42
minutes of Elfman score. The score is really divided into two halves.
The first half contains some manic mickey-mousing. It reminds me a bit
of Elfman’s Flubber- very choppy and colorful. Most of these cues are
1-2 minutes long tops. With the exception of the first 4 tracks, most
of this portion of the score is forgettable. There’s a few interesting
things to be found, though, like a neat presentation of “Jingle Bells”
found in track 8 but for the most part the score doesn’t really kick into
gear until around track 18.
The Intro/Logos set the
scene perfectly with the main theme being played on clarinet (it appears
quite often in the score played by this instrument) with a slow/steady
sleighbell and glockenspiel beat in the background. Elfman’s writing is
very straightforward in many of these softer tracks (the score is dominated
by this material) but what makes it so interesting is his orchestration
and layering of the instruments. The movement is not as choppy and schizophrenic
as Elfman has been known to get in scores like Instinct and The Frighteners.
Family Man is a theme-dominated
score. There’s a main theme that’s somewhat of a love theme. It’s very
emotional. Like some of Elfman’s best known themes (Edwards, Mars Attacks…)
it’s largely isorhythmic. Like mentioned above, it’s featured quite often
on the clarinet, but it also gets much time with other woodwinds, piano,
and strings. I have to say, this has to be one of the nicest themes Elfman’s
ever written and it’s probably the best aspect of the score. There’s also
a sub-theme that works with the main theme (a 4 note motif that moves
downwards in sequential fashion) and a jaunty little march that is featured
in the main titles that pops up occasionally in the score itself. There’
also a couple of other motives that pop-up throughout like a 13-note 16th
note motif that occurs frequently with the acoustic guitar.
The second half of the
score is much more serious in tone and that’s where most of the beauty
of The Family Man lies. Tracks like 23 “Farewell” and 24 “Promise” and
of course the “Grand Finale” are incredibly beautiful. His handling of
choir with piano, bells, strings, and woodwinds is masterful. He creates
a warm, dream-like atmosphere that’s more mature and accomplished than
anything he’s done in the past. That’s not to say that The Family Man
is more enjoyable or even better than similar scores like Good Will Hunting
or Edward Scissorhands. However, there’s a level of intimacy that I’ve
never heard Elfman create in his music before that makes The Family Man
such a pleasant surprise. It’s sad and romantic but not as syrupy as Sommersby
can be.
In the end, it’s these
last few tracks (even the cool “rock-based” track 26) that make The Family
Man a pleasure and a wonderful secret among us Elfman fans until a proper
release is made.
Rating: * *
*
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