Kindergarten Cop

Rarely does Arnold Schwarzenneger, kid's film, and fun appear in the same sentence. Amazingly, Kindergarten Cop was actually not that bad. The story revolves around a police detective who ends up, undercover of course, in charge of a kindergarten classroom and a family whose lives may be in danger. Corny? A little bit, but it still managed to be sweet and sincere without ever becoming too sugar coated. For the soundtrack, composer Randy Edelman stepped in to provide the right soft and sweet music.

As far as Edelman's music goes, it's interestingly diverse. Cues like 'Children Montage' and 'The Rain Ride' sound like an eclectic mix between 80's synth pop music and Mozart. The only truly distinguishable theme in the whole score is the love theme that occasionally pops up.
As you probably guessed it (and considering that this is a Randy Edelman score) there is a fair amount of fluffy material. Edelman props up numerous sweet little melodies for the school and the children, but never overdoes it. Where the score gets interesting, is the sudden bursts of suspenseful material that fits with the film but feels out of place on the album.

Randy Edelman isn't a great composer. Occasionally he manages to roll out an interesting album with fairly good themes and melodies. Kindergarten Cop is one of those scores. While not a great work of art like some of Jerry Goldsmith's scores, it still manages to be fun and simple and interestingly sweet. As far Edelman's scores go, Kindergarten Cop is easily one of his highlights.