Leatherheads
Randy Newman
" The entire problem is however that the jazz music never changes a thing. "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
Leatherheads is George Clooney's third movie as a director and he stars alongside Renée Zellweger, John Krasinski and Jonathan Pryce. Clooney plays Dodge Connelly, captain of a struggling football team, the Duluth Bulldogs. Dodge is determined to save both his team and football in general. Thereby he convinces a college football star, Carter "the Bullet" Rutherford, to join the Bulldogs, hoping to capitalize on Carter's fame as a war hero. For the composing duties George Clooney picked veteran songwriter Randy Newman. For Randy it's the first score since the 2006 Cars by Pixar Animations.
In general you could've expected a lot of Leatherheads. The movie is an overblown, screw ball attack on football, considering rules are absent in the story's premise. Clooney's performance helps in assuring that. With Randy Newman you often know which style to expect. Yet George Clooney asked him to keep the Americana feel down, and concentrate on the origins and the timing of the story. In return you receive one of Newman's most clever interpretations of 1920's jazz music.
It keeps your mind focused on the story's screwy intentions and assures a listening experience where jazz and laid back music is all over the place. The entire problem is however that the jazz music never changes a thing.
From "The Princeton Tiger" to "Reprise for Tiffany", expect the same jazz layered music. In fact the three opening tracks sum up everything you need to remember. The trumpet and drum led first track brings us a nice opening. "Good Old Princeton: The College Game" is all about a comedic overblown idea where flutes and brass give us an animation Looney Tunes feel, albeit more focused. Basically to remember and think of A League of Their Own is the best way to imagine how Leatherheads sounds like. However, where Hans Zimmer inserted his own musical style and various themes to change the pace, Leatherheads neglects to alter the course of the score.
"The Professional Game" covers laid back jazz with a comedic twist, "The Pros go to College" is laid back jazz and we discover comedic jazz in "Help from High School (Gonged)". Basically think about the genre of music and you can expect the rest of the entire album. Only in snippets does the music changes a bit the pace of the score. The end of "Dodge" has a couple of sleazy notes, "Ich Gebe Auf" tries to change the course of the game with a more saddened piece. And by god the only partly jazz track is "The Ambiguity of Victory", but it is not the finale we wanted nor expected. There are drums, the best trumpet jazz music there can be found, alongside a happy lightweight finale. But it can not recover the damage that's been done.
Because for that we need to go back to the music before this. Expect jazz with sleazy trumpets in "Carter is Blue", expect Pleasantville laid back jazz in "How one Longs for Princeton", or what about solo piano and a soft mood in "Ah, Love". Altogether it doesn't change the fact that themes are all less important than the actual mood of the score. There's a romantic theme intertwined in "Ah Love" but when you're listening to jazz and nothing but, it's beginning to sound all alike. Even the violin and a sneaky feel in "Pool Party" and a high school graduation moment in "Up Close and Personal" don't matter anymore.
In truth, Randy Newman's Leatherheads is a background score where very few moments will actually sting and draw attention. This because it's all so alike, and because themes aren't really jumping out. In that regard, Hans Zimmer's A League of Their Own is so much better because it does sound like it supports a movie, and not a ballroom dancing scene that lasts for 114 minutes. I can't call this is a success because for that Newman's music is anything but rewarding.
Tracklisting
1. The Princeton Tiger (1.29)
2. Good Old Princeton: The College Game (2.24)
3. The Professional Game (3.59)
4. The Pros go to College (1.20)
5. Help from High School (Gonged) (0.57)
6. Dodge (2.39)
7. Lexi (1.56)
8. Ich Gebe Auf (2.11)
9. Carter is Blue (3.21)
10. How one Longs for Princeton (1.25)
11. Ah, Love (2.47)
12. The Man I Love: Ledisi (3.59)
13. Pool Party (2.37)
14. Dan Higgins (1.02)
15. Trouble (1.43)
16. Up Close and Personal (1.55)
17. The Ambiguity of Victory (3.38)
18. Sgt. York (0.58)
19. Into the Sunset (1.20)
20. Reprise for Tiffany (2.08)
Total Length: 43.59
In general you could've expected a lot of Leatherheads. The movie is an overblown, screw ball attack on football, considering rules are absent in the story's premise. Clooney's performance helps in assuring that. With Randy Newman you often know which style to expect. Yet George Clooney asked him to keep the Americana feel down, and concentrate on the origins and the timing of the story. In return you receive one of Newman's most clever interpretations of 1920's jazz music.
It keeps your mind focused on the story's screwy intentions and assures a listening experience where jazz and laid back music is all over the place. The entire problem is however that the jazz music never changes a thing.
From "The Princeton Tiger" to "Reprise for Tiffany", expect the same jazz layered music. In fact the three opening tracks sum up everything you need to remember. The trumpet and drum led first track brings us a nice opening. "Good Old Princeton: The College Game" is all about a comedic overblown idea where flutes and brass give us an animation Looney Tunes feel, albeit more focused. Basically to remember and think of A League of Their Own is the best way to imagine how Leatherheads sounds like. However, where Hans Zimmer inserted his own musical style and various themes to change the pace, Leatherheads neglects to alter the course of the score.
"The Professional Game" covers laid back jazz with a comedic twist, "The Pros go to College" is laid back jazz and we discover comedic jazz in "Help from High School (Gonged)". Basically think about the genre of music and you can expect the rest of the entire album. Only in snippets does the music changes a bit the pace of the score. The end of "Dodge" has a couple of sleazy notes, "Ich Gebe Auf" tries to change the course of the game with a more saddened piece. And by god the only partly jazz track is "The Ambiguity of Victory", but it is not the finale we wanted nor expected. There are drums, the best trumpet jazz music there can be found, alongside a happy lightweight finale. But it can not recover the damage that's been done.
Because for that we need to go back to the music before this. Expect jazz with sleazy trumpets in "Carter is Blue", expect Pleasantville laid back jazz in "How one Longs for Princeton", or what about solo piano and a soft mood in "Ah, Love". Altogether it doesn't change the fact that themes are all less important than the actual mood of the score. There's a romantic theme intertwined in "Ah Love" but when you're listening to jazz and nothing but, it's beginning to sound all alike. Even the violin and a sneaky feel in "Pool Party" and a high school graduation moment in "Up Close and Personal" don't matter anymore.
In truth, Randy Newman's Leatherheads is a background score where very few moments will actually sting and draw attention. This because it's all so alike, and because themes aren't really jumping out. In that regard, Hans Zimmer's A League of Their Own is so much better because it does sound like it supports a movie, and not a ballroom dancing scene that lasts for 114 minutes. I can't call this is a success because for that Newman's music is anything but rewarding.
Tracklisting
1. The Princeton Tiger (1.29)
2. Good Old Princeton: The College Game (2.24)
3. The Professional Game (3.59)
4. The Pros go to College (1.20)
5. Help from High School (Gonged) (0.57)
6. Dodge (2.39)
7. Lexi (1.56)
8. Ich Gebe Auf (2.11)
9. Carter is Blue (3.21)
10. How one Longs for Princeton (1.25)
11. Ah, Love (2.47)
12. The Man I Love: Ledisi (3.59)
13. Pool Party (2.37)
14. Dan Higgins (1.02)
15. Trouble (1.43)
16. Up Close and Personal (1.55)
17. The Ambiguity of Victory (3.38)
18. Sgt. York (0.58)
19. Into the Sunset (1.20)
20. Reprise for Tiffany (2.08)
Total Length: 43.59