The Rainmaker


Hollywood Records Germany (4029758214121)
Hollywood Records US (0720616214126)
Film | Releasejaar: 1997 | Film release: 1997 | Medium: CD
 

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# Track   Lengte
1.Sharks6:20
2.Last Ride2:30
3.Donny6:48
4.Kelly7:14
5.Shenanigans3:57
6.The Plot Thickens5:46
7.The Fight2:35
8.Jail3:05
9.Who is Jackie Lemancyzk?3:40
10.The Trial Ends2:32
11.Goodbye Dot3:22
12.Sharks (Reprise)1:27
 49:16
Schrijf zelf je recensie Verberg reviews in andere talen

 

The Rainmaker - 06/10 - Recensie van Tom Daish, ingevoerd op (Engels)
I've never really been one for lawyer and courtroom drama films, they're the sort of thing that plays out better on television, but John Grisham has made a career out of writing books on the subject that get turned into big budget movies. The Rainmaker is an above average adaptation, with a superb cast including Matt Damon, Claire Danes and Jon Voight (before he learnt to sneer in Anaconda) and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who doesn't seem ever likely to recapture his past glories as director of The Godfather films and Apocalypse Now. To add to a classy production is a classy composer who has evidently been able to his Man with the Golden Arm days of jazz scoring.
Bernstein's Man with the Golden Arm would be laughably over the top in today's more pseudo-realistic style of film making; indeed I wonder if Bernard Herrmann would be able to secure any work at all if he were around today, his music being so whoopingly dramatic most of the time. Fortunately, Bernstein is perhaps a more timeless and subtle craftsman and The Rainmaker is no exception. Sharks starts with a sustained dischord on upper woodwind, whether it has any particular significance, I couldn't say, but it's not a terribly appealing start, however Bernstein soon introduces his main theme, the most notable aspect of which is perhaps the use of Hammond organ, which give it a quite funky retrograde vibe that works very well indeed. Bernstein makes further use of bass flute, together with acoustic guitar, drum kit plus small sections of a conventional orchestra.

Although I stick to my opinion that few composers do refined drama as well as Bernstein, The Rainmaker does occasionally feel a touch too refined and quiet. His usual movement does seem generally absent and there is, dare I say it, an occasional drabness to the muted woodwind tones at times. One notable exception is the brief, but inspired The Fight which uses the same ingredients, but adds wailing brass and plenty of movement for an explosive alternative to a more conventional approach to action music. Jail contains a surprising, but brief passage for female choir, adding a curious mystical edge and Who is Jackie Lemancyzk? has the Hammond played to sound almost like a theremin - perhaps Bernstein finding a replacement for the otherwise absent ondes martenot.

With The Trial Ends and Goodbye Dot, the score seems to suddenly awaken with some more typical syncopated rhythms, maybe a subconscious connection of lawyers with the lawmen of the wild west? Probably not. Still, a very pleasing end, resolving the sustained tension prevalent throughout. The Rainmaker is certainly big on atmosphere, but at almost fifty minutes feels just a touch drawn out at times. There is a pleasingly seedy feel to it (ideal for lawyers - sharks), but it isn't terribly memorable. The unusual, but ungimmicky orchestration does go some way to perk things up, but the more conventional sections seem more content to provide something atmospheric within the film, but of less interest on CD. Worth hearing for the few stand out cues, but lacking the longevity of Bernstein at his best.


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