The Resident
John Ottman
" John Ottman nails the atmosphere, literally! "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the download only release
I had to look The Resident up, because it seems this one slipped past my radar for some apparent reason. The movie goes about a young doctor who suspects she may not be alone in her new Brooklyn loft, apparently her landlord has formed a frightening obsession with her. Starring Hilary Swank, this movie seems to have passed more people's radars, considering it went to a direct DVD release (despite the 20 million dollar budget that was spent on it). Director, screenwriter and cinematographer Antti Jokinen chose a specialist to this kind of genre, namely John Ottman.
John Ottman has done this kind of genre before, and mostly this means that one can start to repeat himself rather easily. Well The Resident is definitely not one I've heard of him yet, but I've heard it from others. This is your typical run of the mill background score that puts itself on the map for one simple reason, because it adds more musical SFX to the movie than the SFX crew seem to deliver. The Resident continues the dirty trend of filmmusic today. It is not the music that's important anymore, it is the effectiveness that's important. Meaning effect takes over from memorable tunes, delivering in the end background music that has no business on a soundtrack release.
This download only release (thank god for that) begins with an atonal piano melody, forming very quickly the sound and tone of this specific score. One of uneasiness, one of fear, one of forgetfulness. Ottman is not afraid to make his music atonal from time to time, even to the very use of musical SFX. The main theme mostly returning on piano often gets this atonal approach, showing more than often that something is wrong. And when that atonal approach appears, you will be hearing it for a while. The score's full of uneasy cues, from the atonal "Weak Man" to the unnerving "Opening Up / Behind the Walls" to the wall of SFX that rain throughout "My Life Now", The Resident continuously proves that uneasiness doesn't necessarily has to come through music. The disturbing ?music? probably sums up my concern the most during "Rough Day" and the absolutely hideous "Nailing Max".
The Resident is a background score that functions only as unnerving mood. It is hardly getting a melodic approach and it stays uneasy and unsettling throughout most of the time. Basically it is John Ottman adding unsettling noise to something that could have been brought with sheer music. Once I saw the cover of The Resident, I immediately thought of Domestic Disturbance. Even if that score is hardly a memorable one in the genre, at least Mark Mancina delivered a musical approach to the uneasiness. Here John Ottman continues the trend of actually making filmmusic worse. It's darn effective to say the least, but do we really need to hear a film with SFX instead of music?
Tracklisting
1. Theme from the Resident (1.53)
2. Main Titles / Nice Place (3.43)
3. Weak Man (3.13)
4. Dinner Date (3.08)
5. Rewind (3.34)
6. First Night / Welcome Gift (3.15)
7. Bad Wine (2.13)
8. Opening Up / Behind the Walls (4.13)
9. Sublet Security / Brush 'n Stroke (2.27)
10. My Life Now (2.48)
11. Erection Dejection (2.00)
12. Love Injection (3.20)
13. Revelations (3.57)
14. Max is Back (1.36)
15. Rough Day (2.22)
16. Nailing Max (3.11)
17. End Titles (1.31)
Total Length: 48.24
John Ottman has done this kind of genre before, and mostly this means that one can start to repeat himself rather easily. Well The Resident is definitely not one I've heard of him yet, but I've heard it from others. This is your typical run of the mill background score that puts itself on the map for one simple reason, because it adds more musical SFX to the movie than the SFX crew seem to deliver. The Resident continues the dirty trend of filmmusic today. It is not the music that's important anymore, it is the effectiveness that's important. Meaning effect takes over from memorable tunes, delivering in the end background music that has no business on a soundtrack release.
This download only release (thank god for that) begins with an atonal piano melody, forming very quickly the sound and tone of this specific score. One of uneasiness, one of fear, one of forgetfulness. Ottman is not afraid to make his music atonal from time to time, even to the very use of musical SFX. The main theme mostly returning on piano often gets this atonal approach, showing more than often that something is wrong. And when that atonal approach appears, you will be hearing it for a while. The score's full of uneasy cues, from the atonal "Weak Man" to the unnerving "Opening Up / Behind the Walls" to the wall of SFX that rain throughout "My Life Now", The Resident continuously proves that uneasiness doesn't necessarily has to come through music. The disturbing ?music? probably sums up my concern the most during "Rough Day" and the absolutely hideous "Nailing Max".
The Resident is a background score that functions only as unnerving mood. It is hardly getting a melodic approach and it stays uneasy and unsettling throughout most of the time. Basically it is John Ottman adding unsettling noise to something that could have been brought with sheer music. Once I saw the cover of The Resident, I immediately thought of Domestic Disturbance. Even if that score is hardly a memorable one in the genre, at least Mark Mancina delivered a musical approach to the uneasiness. Here John Ottman continues the trend of actually making filmmusic worse. It's darn effective to say the least, but do we really need to hear a film with SFX instead of music?
Tracklisting
1. Theme from the Resident (1.53)
2. Main Titles / Nice Place (3.43)
3. Weak Man (3.13)
4. Dinner Date (3.08)
5. Rewind (3.34)
6. First Night / Welcome Gift (3.15)
7. Bad Wine (2.13)
8. Opening Up / Behind the Walls (4.13)
9. Sublet Security / Brush 'n Stroke (2.27)
10. My Life Now (2.48)
11. Erection Dejection (2.00)
12. Love Injection (3.20)
13. Revelations (3.57)
14. Max is Back (1.36)
15. Rough Day (2.22)
16. Nailing Max (3.11)
17. End Titles (1.31)
Total Length: 48.24