The latest film from director Sydney Pollack sees him take another of his occasional departures from employing Dave Grusin, this time opting for James Newton Howard.  A vaguely intriguing film, it sees Nicole Kidman play an interpreter at the United Nations who overhears a plot to assassinate an African head of state, and then gets embroiled in all sorts of shenanigans as a result.  Pollack's presence gives it more credence than it might otherwise have, but it does seem to be fairly standard stuff, one of those projects Kidman does in between her more interesting ones.

The same could really be said of the composer, who has fashioned the dullest album in quite a while.  It lasts for 45 minutes, but so little happens you do begin to wonder whether you've fallen into a trance.  The opening track - all eight minutes of it - is very hard to describe, simply because it doesn't really feature anything.  It is frequently so quiet that you wonder whether it's still on at all.  Nothing of much note happens until "Tobin Comes Home", which features a vague hint of a melody, and indeed after that it's another few minutes before "Guy Forgot His Lunch" (hardly the most exciting-sounding event) suddenly introduces a violent brass burst, which turns out to be a one-off as the track descends into more mind-numbing tedium, only springing into life again for a brief burst of action over its last 45 seconds or so, but even that is so generic it's difficult to imagine not being able to live without it.

Finally there's something more appealing in "The Phonecall", with an eerie theme performed by piano and accompanied by guitar and strings seeming like an oasis in the middle of a barren desert, though it doesn't stick in the memory for any other reason.  "Silvia Showers" is the one of the best tracks, not only because it conjures up images of Nicole Kidman not wearing anything, but also because it has a minute or so of quite engaging music with some interesting string textures and percussion, but I'm clutching at straws a bit.  The only real track of quality is the driving, propulsive "Zuwanie Arrival at UN" (which should probably have been placed earlier on the album because I doubt many people will make it to the 12th track) which seems Howard showing off some of the stylish action music he's capable of writing.  I hate saying it, but I can't really understand why The Interpreter has been released.  I can't see it appealing to those film music fans who like the stuff because it's interesting music, and I can't see the film developing enough of a following to see strong album sales.  This one's for Howard completists only, but I would imagine even they would have a hard time getting all the way through.