Home of the Brave
Stephen Endelman
" In a way the sound of the score can be expected without having to hear it. "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
Irwin Winkler's Home of the Brave is a post war drama that deals with what happens to the soldiers after they come home. We often forget the sheer horror and drama that is inflicted to these thousands of war veterans, and each and every one copes with that tragedy in a different kind of way. This movie deals around 4 returning soldiers (Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Biel, Brian Pressly and 50 Cent) and how each ones lives on from there. It is a respected drama and with it comes a respected dramatic score by composer Stephen Endelman.
In a way the sound of the score can be expected without having to hear it. Yet, it works when you expect the expected and get surprised by the unexpected. The solo ethnic vocal in "The Battle Ends" can be expected, the ethnic music in "Opening Iraq" can be too and yet "Looking at the Map" gives a nice combination of an electric guitar (Thelma & Louise feel) with soft drums and a solo trumpet. Together it's nothing staggering but it sure gives that little bit of extra when you spot it.
Naturally the score is an overtly dramatic one and this all has got to do with the post traumatic events the soldiers are facing. The guitar in "Daddy's Home", "I Gave This to Him" and "Unbuttoning", the piano in "I'm Sorry Mommy" and piano/strings in "The Funeral", it is enough to bring forward the on screen emotions. Even if that is merely a simple construction of various notes, it works.
There's a returning dramatic theme that undergoes several variations and it is nice enough to carry the score through its dramatic points. From time to time the mood shifts to slightly darker material. While "The Chase" happens in Spokane Washington and not in Iraq, Endelman still uses his ethnic drums to set down the mood, considering it's all a reaction to the drama that they underwent in Iraq. Same thing for "Where is He?", even if the drums are slightly heavier and the score more moody in the beginning. That changes when an emotional string line and a solo female vocal carry it towards higher skies.
The remainder of the score is not changing a lot; piano, some somber music, the ethnic vocal in "All Hell Broke Loose" or the lovely positive sound in "One Kid and One Hand". The emotional connection between the ethnic vocal and the western strings in "Return to Iraq" making it alongside "Where is He?" the best track of them all.
Whether you start or end with the Sheryl Crow song is up to you, but it works in both cases. It actually is a good song because it uses the arrangements of Endelman's music and therefore fits more to the genre of the movie. Home of the Brave could have been so much better if it pushed the emotional level up a notch. But would it have made of it a score that suited the movie better? I don't think so. Because it are the soft intentions that depict the internal struggle the soldiers are facing. Pushing the strength of the score would have destroyed that struggle. Home of the Brave is noble in its intentions, brave in its belief, decent in its actions, and I respect it for its outcome.
Tracklisting
1. Try Not to Remember: Sheryl Crow (4.41)
2. The Battle Ends (2.27)
3. Opening Iraq (2.12)
4. Looking at the Map (2.12)
5. Daddy's Home (1.34)
6. The Kitchen (1.45)
7. The Funeral (1.46)
8. I Gave This to Him (1.38)
9. Unbuttoning (1.23)
10. The Chase (3.02)
11. I'm Sorry Mommy (2.05)
12. Where is He? (4.40)
13. What We're Thankful For (3.01)
14. Test Taking (2.35)
15. All Hell Broke Loose (2.14)
16. What Happened to Your Hand? (1.54)
17. One Kid and One Hand (2.16)
18. Go And Die (3.34)
19. Return to Iraq (2.01)
Total Length: 47.09
In a way the sound of the score can be expected without having to hear it. Yet, it works when you expect the expected and get surprised by the unexpected. The solo ethnic vocal in "The Battle Ends" can be expected, the ethnic music in "Opening Iraq" can be too and yet "Looking at the Map" gives a nice combination of an electric guitar (Thelma & Louise feel) with soft drums and a solo trumpet. Together it's nothing staggering but it sure gives that little bit of extra when you spot it.
Naturally the score is an overtly dramatic one and this all has got to do with the post traumatic events the soldiers are facing. The guitar in "Daddy's Home", "I Gave This to Him" and "Unbuttoning", the piano in "I'm Sorry Mommy" and piano/strings in "The Funeral", it is enough to bring forward the on screen emotions. Even if that is merely a simple construction of various notes, it works.
There's a returning dramatic theme that undergoes several variations and it is nice enough to carry the score through its dramatic points. From time to time the mood shifts to slightly darker material. While "The Chase" happens in Spokane Washington and not in Iraq, Endelman still uses his ethnic drums to set down the mood, considering it's all a reaction to the drama that they underwent in Iraq. Same thing for "Where is He?", even if the drums are slightly heavier and the score more moody in the beginning. That changes when an emotional string line and a solo female vocal carry it towards higher skies.
The remainder of the score is not changing a lot; piano, some somber music, the ethnic vocal in "All Hell Broke Loose" or the lovely positive sound in "One Kid and One Hand". The emotional connection between the ethnic vocal and the western strings in "Return to Iraq" making it alongside "Where is He?" the best track of them all.
Whether you start or end with the Sheryl Crow song is up to you, but it works in both cases. It actually is a good song because it uses the arrangements of Endelman's music and therefore fits more to the genre of the movie. Home of the Brave could have been so much better if it pushed the emotional level up a notch. But would it have made of it a score that suited the movie better? I don't think so. Because it are the soft intentions that depict the internal struggle the soldiers are facing. Pushing the strength of the score would have destroyed that struggle. Home of the Brave is noble in its intentions, brave in its belief, decent in its actions, and I respect it for its outcome.
Tracklisting
1. Try Not to Remember: Sheryl Crow (4.41)
2. The Battle Ends (2.27)
3. Opening Iraq (2.12)
4. Looking at the Map (2.12)
5. Daddy's Home (1.34)
6. The Kitchen (1.45)
7. The Funeral (1.46)
8. I Gave This to Him (1.38)
9. Unbuttoning (1.23)
10. The Chase (3.02)
11. I'm Sorry Mommy (2.05)
12. Where is He? (4.40)
13. What We're Thankful For (3.01)
14. Test Taking (2.35)
15. All Hell Broke Loose (2.14)
16. What Happened to Your Hand? (1.54)
17. One Kid and One Hand (2.16)
18. Go And Die (3.34)
19. Return to Iraq (2.01)
Total Length: 47.09