Unstrung Heroes
Thomas Newman
" Eclectic combination receives an Oscar nomination "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
Andie MacDowell, John Turturro and Michael Richards star in a movie directed by Diane Keaton. Unstrong Heroes goes about an unhappy Jewish boy, who gets to live with his uncles after having heard about his mother's illness. There he changes and starts to appreciate his uncles and his way of life, despite his family wanting him back. Keaton approached composer Thomas Newman for the music, especially after the successful run with scores like Little Women and The Shawshank Redemption. And surprisingly enough, Newman's presence prevailed, getting him a 3rd Oscar nomination for Unstrung Heroes.
The score however doesn't begin the way you expect an Oscar nominated score to begin. Eclectic and pounding away on the various percussive elements, "Outside 2B" surely is an eclectic opening. But that we can say about some other tracks as well. "Inside 2B", some guitar weirdness in "Is Unstrung", "The Beast is Coming" and "Half Amelia" and the final track "There is no Conspiracy" show us Thomas Newman at his most creative.
Luckily several tracks try to find some kind of thematic balance between the eclectic ideas. In "Nowhere Near 2B" and "Ballsound" there's an uplifting flute moment, that flute moment enhances the soft nature of the meandering strings in "Trace Harm" and the lovely "Main Title (A Load of Lidz)". But by far the most magical track is "Home Movies", where Newman just keeps it soft and ordinary, with piano, flute and strings guiding us to a lovely finale.
The simple question is, can we call Unstrung Heroes Oscar material? And the simple answer is, NO. I can't call this music that deserves such an award, despite its effective, enjoyable and lovely effect in the film as on disc. This is your typical mainstream Thomas Newman work, where the mainstream ideas doesn't aways follow the mainstream approach. Unstrung Heroes is nothing remarkable, but once again does it get the job done. And does it make for an interesting and at times entertaining half an hour. The brief SFX add nothing to the experience and an half hour might have been the best possible way to present this eclectic Thomas Newman score.
Tracklisting
1. Outside 2B (1.03)
2. Inside 2B (1.30)
3. Nowhere Near 2B (1.06)
4. Is Unstrung (3.12)
5. Star Machine (1.28)
6. South Pole (0.49)
7. Ballsound (0.39)
8. Trace Harm (1.46)
9. Main Title (A Load of Lidz) (2.42)
10. Means What it Means (0.38)
11. Influenza (0.51)
12. The Beast is Coming (1.08)
13. Lipstick (1.15)
14. Possible Ideas / Available Materials (2.11)
15. Half Amelia (1.28)
16. A Blind Man Could See It (1.05)
17. 79 RPMS (0.33)
18. Home Movies (2.53)
19. There is no Conspiracy (3.34)
Total Length: 29.51
The score however doesn't begin the way you expect an Oscar nominated score to begin. Eclectic and pounding away on the various percussive elements, "Outside 2B" surely is an eclectic opening. But that we can say about some other tracks as well. "Inside 2B", some guitar weirdness in "Is Unstrung", "The Beast is Coming" and "Half Amelia" and the final track "There is no Conspiracy" show us Thomas Newman at his most creative.
Luckily several tracks try to find some kind of thematic balance between the eclectic ideas. In "Nowhere Near 2B" and "Ballsound" there's an uplifting flute moment, that flute moment enhances the soft nature of the meandering strings in "Trace Harm" and the lovely "Main Title (A Load of Lidz)". But by far the most magical track is "Home Movies", where Newman just keeps it soft and ordinary, with piano, flute and strings guiding us to a lovely finale.
The simple question is, can we call Unstrung Heroes Oscar material? And the simple answer is, NO. I can't call this music that deserves such an award, despite its effective, enjoyable and lovely effect in the film as on disc. This is your typical mainstream Thomas Newman work, where the mainstream ideas doesn't aways follow the mainstream approach. Unstrung Heroes is nothing remarkable, but once again does it get the job done. And does it make for an interesting and at times entertaining half an hour. The brief SFX add nothing to the experience and an half hour might have been the best possible way to present this eclectic Thomas Newman score.
Tracklisting
1. Outside 2B (1.03)
2. Inside 2B (1.30)
3. Nowhere Near 2B (1.06)
4. Is Unstrung (3.12)
5. Star Machine (1.28)
6. South Pole (0.49)
7. Ballsound (0.39)
8. Trace Harm (1.46)
9. Main Title (A Load of Lidz) (2.42)
10. Means What it Means (0.38)
11. Influenza (0.51)
12. The Beast is Coming (1.08)
13. Lipstick (1.15)
14. Possible Ideas / Available Materials (2.11)
15. Half Amelia (1.28)
16. A Blind Man Could See It (1.05)
17. 79 RPMS (0.33)
18. Home Movies (2.53)
19. There is no Conspiracy (3.34)
Total Length: 29.51