A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

Steven Spielberg's recent willingness to explore genres he had never previously ventured near, in Catch Me If You Can and now The Terminal, has been most welcome.  Perhaps less ambitious than some of his other movies, they are nonetheless good showcases of another side to the director, and most pleasant experiences, with the director bringing a degree of sophistication that is sadly lacking in many of Hollywood's lighter films these days.  Another consequence has been a new kind of score in the Spielberg / Williams collaboration.  Whereas Catch Me If You Can made a nice album, it was a far too heavy-handed score for the movie, which demanded something far lighter, and that's exactly what Williams has delivered this time around.

He has done a good job of evoking the light European sound of Nino Rota while stamping his own personality all over it, though ironically it is Rachel Portman who seems to have influenced the opening track (and main theme), "The Tale of Viktor Navorski", which has the same kind of charming sound as Portman's Chocolat, dominated by a lovely clarinet solo performed by Emily Bernstein.  "Dinner with Amelia" is more obviously romantic (and Rota-like), beginning as a lovely laid-back tango but going on a nice romantic journey through its long running-time.  "Viktor and his Friends" is the first real taste of comedy music, but even here Williams mercifully avoids anything over-the-top, sticking with the established light tone.

"The Fountain Scene" is a beautiful piece of old-fashioned Hollywood romance, something Williams does quite rarely, but well.  There's not a hint of schmaltz here, everything is done with a deft touch, and it works so well.  "The Wedding of Officer Torres" is another charming piece, romantic and lovely, though it does end with an unfortunate quote of "Here Comes the Bride" which cheapens it considerably.  The simple "Jazz Autographs", simply a chilled-out performance of the main theme by piano and bass, is a lovely highlight, the sort of thing Williams gets to do only very occasionally, but which I wish he could do more often.  

So far, so good... barely a bad word spoken.  The problem is that we are now about 35 minutes into the album, and with the best will in the world, music for romantic comedies isn't going to be interesting enough to sustain an album much longer than that.  Sadly it proves to be the case here, since virtually everything that follows has already been encountered at least one time already.  Certainly, the music doesn't lose its charm and it is breezy enough to be pleasant background music, however long it lasts, but purely as a standalone listening experience there just isn't quite enough to it to justify the album's length.  It's a similar score to Williams's Sabrina (though perhaps slightly more satisfying on the whole) and presents an interesting departure from his usual fare.  It's not going to win any awards, but it's quite delightful.

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Tracks

1. The Tale of Viktor Navorski (4:12)
2. Dinner with Amelia (8:02)
3. A Legend is Born (3:16)
4. Viktor and his Friends (4:43)
5. The Fountain Scene (5:33)
6. The Wedding of Officer Torres (5:01)
7. Jazz Autographs (3:45)
8. Refusing to Escape (3:01)
9. Krakozhia National Anthem / Homesickness (1L49)
10. Looking for Work (3:17)
11. Gupta's Deliverance (3:18)
12. Finding Coins and Learning to Read (4:02)
13. Destiny... Canneloni... / The Tale of Vikto Navorski (reprise) (5:05)
14. A Happy Navorski Ending! (2:47)