I've just finished watching this for like the 3rd time in the last 2 weeks and between the memorable lines, memorable performances and memorable music I've got to wonder if a 4th revisit looms shortly.
This is nuts. I saw it at least twice in its theatrical run and ran to whatever store for the soundtrack only to refuse a purchase based on its overloaded pop entries and scarce score proper. Well, the heck with scarcity I just ordered the damn thing. Zimmer created a most charming, gentle score based on 3 uncomplicated character themes that were bent ever so slightly depending upon the mood. I think it was the way the music was spotted that really drew me in scorewise (including its placement right from the get-go over the studio logo), and the repetition of those same themes was never a problem because....they were just so pleasant!
Highlights for me included a touching piece that segued into the Simon theme when the artist finally regained his touch. Another was when the Melvin and Carol themes merged at the film's climax.
Yes, I like this film, too, although it´s mostly because it has my favourite actor of all time, Jack Nicholson. He can do a role like this in his sleep. But I also like the fact that it avoids sappiness and saccharinity when it could have gone in that direction. There´s a wonderful pull between setting up feelgood and a regular disruption of this sensation. A fine segue between personal drama and comedy.
As for Zimmer´s music, I kinda prefer him in ethnic and/or action mode, so I´m afraid I can´t say much about it in this particular case other than that it was "pleasing enough".
I know how it is to kind of watch the same film a lot, I have done that one other time, when I got A Hard Days Night on DVD, for some strange reason, I had never seenit, I kept watching it, I mean, I LOVED it, I couldn't stop watching it. Strange isn't it. I was that way somewhat with their film HELP.
The soundtrack arrived today and boy do I have egg on my face. Even though but 6 tracks of underscoring are listed, what's there is all of it. Oh my I would have picked this up years ago if I had know it was all there. The problem for me is that the track times are not posted and when I saw 6 tracks I saw miniscule representation. Yeah, I ass-u-me-d. But they didn't help. And the tracks are poorly titled, the music is not in filmic order...oh maaaaaaaaan...but the music's the thing and at least it's all there.
I just bagged a copy of this CD in a charity shop (it actually worked out at 33p, as the deal was 3 CD's for a quid*). I was also surprised that the first 6 tracks (by Zimmer) totalled over 30 minutes! I remember enjoying the film, when I saw it at the cinema, back in the day. The score is quite delightful. Soft, light, airy, with a dance-like lilt (tango?) to it. Perfect romantic/comedy scoring. Almost Portman-esque at times. Track 5 echoes a similar style of music from JW's THE TERMINAL (not sure which came first). It's in a similar vein as his stuff for 9 MONTHS & I'LL DO ANYTHING. Bargain!
*I picked 'normal stuff' with the rest of the quid
Oh and the songs are terrible. You can usually count on a few decent tunes on these rom-com CD compilations, but apart from some classic Nat King Cole and a fun, Zimmer-produced cover of Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life by Art Garfunkel, they're pretty dismal.
Howard.L, if you're still aboot, you should add Hans Zimmer to the thread title, to double it's chances of being found in future. I nearly started a new thread until another Google search unearthed it
