The Minus Man

After his very well received and justly famous scores to Scream (and sequel) as well as the excellent score to Mimic, Marco Beltrami completely changes tack for this slightly oddball tail of small town America. I have little idea about the film and the track titles don't exactly help much. However, it is one of those rather enjoyable, quirky little scores that is a bit strange, but curiously hypnotic. It's a kind of Thomas Newman meets I don't know what mixture which emphasises the occasional strange instrument, but also contains some folksy, blue grass (I think - I'm no expert on Deep South music I'm afraid) elements. One thing I do know about this film is that it stars Sheryl Crow, she of Tomorrow Never Dies theme song infamy (even though I quite enjoyed after a while). It is then strange to find that while the score is bookended by songs, as well as shorter number about two thirds in, they do not appear to have had any input from Crow at all, performance, production or composition - although neither are they anything to do with Beltrami. However, I rather like them as quirky modern, folksy numbers with the lead vocalist having one of those whispy voices that you either love or hate, but I happen to quite enjoy. They are written in such a style that means they compliment the underscore very well.

I suspect that the underscore proper is not one that will appeal to many people and I guess that many will come away disappointed for its lack of thematic material. It also doesn't really go anywhere much... hmmm, this doesn't make it sound promising. However, after several listens I honestly can say that I found it hypnotically enjoyable. It is by no means entirely atmosphere music, although there are a couple of sections which come close to that. A lot of it is folksy in the manner of Thomas Newman's Fried Green Tomatoes; written for fairly small ensemble, but rattling along enjoyably. Nother ever lasts very long on the album as the score cues are all very short with the songs making up a good third of the half hour running time.

I am stuck to be honest, many people didn't much enjoy this score and while I wouldn't say it's a great piece of work, it was enjoyable for me at least. I don't mean to compare it to Thomas Newman continuously, but for those who like this folksy work, this would probably make a decent companion piece. It certainly shows that Beltrami has more breadth that just his, admittedly decent horror scores.