Point of Origin

Even if 'it's not TV, it's HBO,' it does seem strange that an actor of Ray Liotta's stature is starring in a TV movie, especially one that appears to be more like the crappy TV movies that gave the genre a bad name, rather than the quality TV features that are becoming the norm. Still, with such an illustrious star, there was obviously some intent towards real quality and that extends to the music. John Ottman might not be quite A list, but he's certainly close to promotion, especially after doing high profile films such as X-Men 2; even if the results weren't exactly ground breaking, his music worked just fine in the film. Perhaps it wouldn't be unreasonable to say that fairly standard, big budget films aren't his ideal territory, his filmography suggesting someone more suited to horror, quirky comedy or thrillers, but nothing too mainstream.

Point of Origin is a thriller about an arsonist, but the music is some way removed from Hans Zimmer's popular, if bombastic score to Backdraft. Ottman's main ploy is to use chord sequences that shift directly from major to minor. The changes have a strange, hypnotic feel, if not that of a thriller. In fact, were the opening cue scored for a big orchestra and performed with a little more swagger, it could have made a decent X-Men starter. It certainly has more personality than Ottman's real main theme for that score. Any score that lists the composer as the performer invariably sends a note of panic to my brain, but here the synthetic versions of real instruments are so well blended with the entirely synthetic sounds that it's hard to tell that it's all coming from a computer. Certainly, the budget limitations aren't obvious and there would be little overall improvement were some of the textures acoustic.

Despite my opening comments, Point of Origin is actually a somewhat unexceptional thriller score. It has some nice ideas and there aren't any dull moments (at half an hour, one would hope not), but neither does it show Ottman coming up with ideas and running with them. His chord progression is neat, but doesn't really go anywhere, neither turning toward edginess or compassion. There is certainly little in the way of effecting, genuine emotion and most of the quieter moments are suspenseful. Even the finale cue is somewhat anticlimactic. Point of Origin is the kind of score that is difficult to avoid damning with faint praise; for TV scoring, it's a good effort and does at least have some musical personality, which is rare on the small screen these days. However, when judged by big screen standards, it just doesn't quite make the grade, lacking variety or the kind of palpable nervous energy that great thriller scores need. Solid, if unremarkable.