Dave
James Newton Howard
" James Newton Howard scores for look-a-likes "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
The Movie Dave of 1993 is one of my more favorite Ivan Reitman movies. It brings the interesting tale of a man named Dave who so happens looks exactly like the president of the United States (both of course played by Kevin Kline). When the president falls into a coma, it is up to Dave to play the president for a certain amount of time, so that no one notices in fact that their country is leaderless. Of course it doesn't take long for the President's Lady (Sigourney Weaver) to discover that her husband is completely different to his people, staff as to her.
I like Kevin Kline a lot, especially once he plays a warm hearted person such as Dave. I also like the supporting roles of Frank Langella, Kevin Dunn, Ben Kingsley, Charles Grodin and especially Ving Rhames. Place alongside of that a witty feel good script and a nice lovely score and Dave is surely a winner in all categories. That lovely score is of the chameleon of Hollywood nowadays, namely James Newton Howard.
Chameleon I say because it is difficult to think what genre or sound James Newton Howard hasn't tackled yet. Even in the year 1993 we received dark somber music for Falling Down, suspenseful thrills for The Fugitive, soft drama for The Saint of Fort Washington and hopeful relief for Alive. Add to that the lovely comical feel good music for Dave and you know what color the chameleon has for us today.
Dave opens quite lovely and stirring with the theme of Dave himself in "Main Titles". A soft performance of the theme is noticed after that in "The Picnic", "To the White House", "The Teaching Montage" and "Do you Like Magic?". The 2 strongest performances are discovered in "Into the Fog" and "End Credits" (which is a summarization of the entire score).
Matters of real importance rise up in "You're On", acknowledged once brief patriotism stirs the disguise of Dave acting as the president. That is until he steps out of his role for about a moment, and you'll know it by the playful finale at the end when that exactly happens. Besides the brief urgency in "Are you Threatening Me?", things turn lovely again in "She Hates Me" which presents a lovely secondary theme for the President's Lady (also noticed in the first track). Her strongest performances also turns up in "Into the Fog".
Dave is the sort of score that doesn't ask many questions. It is to the point, lovely and so easy to admire. And sometimes we don't want nothing more instead. It functions incredibly easy inside an already incredible likeable film and works well enough on a 35 minute CD. So if you ever wonder what kind of film you still have to see, perhaps Dave is worthy of a closer look. And perhaps then you might consider if Dave of James Newton Howard is worthy of that same close investigation.
Tracklisting
1. Main Titles (2.58)
2. The Picnic (4.13)
3. To the White House (3.03)
4. You're On (2.01)
5. Are you Threatening Me? (3.25)
6. She Hates Me (3.12)
7. The Teaching Montage (1.07)
8. Do you Like Magic? (2.23)
9. Dave Passes Out (1.11)
10. The Tunnel (1.49)
11. How'd You Get Started (2.01)
12. Into the Fog (3.40)
13. End Titles (4.14)
Total Length: 35.20
I like Kevin Kline a lot, especially once he plays a warm hearted person such as Dave. I also like the supporting roles of Frank Langella, Kevin Dunn, Ben Kingsley, Charles Grodin and especially Ving Rhames. Place alongside of that a witty feel good script and a nice lovely score and Dave is surely a winner in all categories. That lovely score is of the chameleon of Hollywood nowadays, namely James Newton Howard.
Chameleon I say because it is difficult to think what genre or sound James Newton Howard hasn't tackled yet. Even in the year 1993 we received dark somber music for Falling Down, suspenseful thrills for The Fugitive, soft drama for The Saint of Fort Washington and hopeful relief for Alive. Add to that the lovely comical feel good music for Dave and you know what color the chameleon has for us today.
Dave opens quite lovely and stirring with the theme of Dave himself in "Main Titles". A soft performance of the theme is noticed after that in "The Picnic", "To the White House", "The Teaching Montage" and "Do you Like Magic?". The 2 strongest performances are discovered in "Into the Fog" and "End Credits" (which is a summarization of the entire score).
Matters of real importance rise up in "You're On", acknowledged once brief patriotism stirs the disguise of Dave acting as the president. That is until he steps out of his role for about a moment, and you'll know it by the playful finale at the end when that exactly happens. Besides the brief urgency in "Are you Threatening Me?", things turn lovely again in "She Hates Me" which presents a lovely secondary theme for the President's Lady (also noticed in the first track). Her strongest performances also turns up in "Into the Fog".
Dave is the sort of score that doesn't ask many questions. It is to the point, lovely and so easy to admire. And sometimes we don't want nothing more instead. It functions incredibly easy inside an already incredible likeable film and works well enough on a 35 minute CD. So if you ever wonder what kind of film you still have to see, perhaps Dave is worthy of a closer look. And perhaps then you might consider if Dave of James Newton Howard is worthy of that same close investigation.
Tracklisting
1. Main Titles (2.58)
2. The Picnic (4.13)
3. To the White House (3.03)
4. You're On (2.01)
5. Are you Threatening Me? (3.25)
6. She Hates Me (3.12)
7. The Teaching Montage (1.07)
8. Do you Like Magic? (2.23)
9. Dave Passes Out (1.11)
10. The Tunnel (1.49)
11. How'd You Get Started (2.01)
12. Into the Fog (3.40)
13. End Titles (4.14)
Total Length: 35.20