MEET JOE BLACK

THOMAS NEWMAN

Rating:

Original Review: At last, all my Thomas Newman prayers have been answered. I have always felt that, if he ever let rip with every romantic bone in his body, he could come up with some of the most beautiful music ever written for the cinema. These tendencies have been heard here and there throughout his career: the end credits of The Shawshank Redemption, the main theme from Phenomenon, the Montana theme from The Horse Whisperer. But on each occasion he has backed out at the last moment and refrained from giving his themes the truly majestic performances they deserve. With Meet Joe Black, he has finally relented. An intriguing, if overlong film, Meet Joe Black is a remake of the old Fredric March movie Death Takes A Holiday (from the play by Alberto Casella) and is directed by Martin Brest. Brad Pitt stars as the Grim Reaper himself who, after making several visits to an ageing multi-millionaire with heart trouble (Anthony Hopkins), takes over the body of a handsome young businessman and enters Hopkins' home. In return for acting as his Earthly guide, Pitt will grant Hopkins a "stay of execution" and allow him to live for an extra two weeks until his 70th birthday. However, even Death can be taken by surprise, and soon finds himself inexplicably falling in love with Hopkins' beautiful daughter Claire Forlani... I truly believe Meet Joe Black to be Thomas Newman' most accomplished film score to date. It has a real subtlety and a gentleness of touch that pervades through the entire album and makes the incredibly delicate orchestrations and feather-like melodies simply sparkle. Much of the early part of the album is given to moody and atmospheric writing as Hopkins' character is visited by an invisible spectre who almost imperceptibly breathes the word "Yes" at regular intervals. Later, Newman engages in some playful passages for strings and woodwinds in cues such as 'Everywhere Freesia', 'Peanut Butter Man', 'Fifth Ave.' and 'Mr. Bad News', some of which underscore the innocently comedic scenes in which Death discovers his new-found liking for the finer things in life - such as peanut butter straight from the jar, or walking down a crowded street. There is also a warm-sounding acoustic guitar solo in 'Death and Taxes', precluding the amusing but clever twist in the film's ending. However, as the relationship between Death and the daughter begins to develop, Newman's work begins to take on a much more romantic feel. The first tentative strains of Newman's lovely main theme appear 'Walkaway', and are developed further in cues such as 'Whisper of a Thrill' and 'Cold Lamb Sandwich'. But it is not until the final two tracks that Newman's work really comes into its own. In many of his previous scores, Newman's "resolution" cues have featured attractive themes with full and lush orchestrations for a large orchestra, but here Newman takes it one step further and develops his music into what is possibly the most majestic fifteen minutes of his entire career. Beginning with a sublime flute solo at the start of 'Someone Else', Newman ever-so-gradually turns up the emotional heat by adding layer upon layer of lazy strings, a touch of brass here, a gentle harp and a waltz-like piano melody there, until - forty seconds into 'That Next Place' - a timpani roll and a cymbal ring allows the orchestra to rise up and give a superb performance of the main theme that leaves you reeling. Never before has Thomas Newman's music sounded so grand, so rich, or so overpoweringly beautiful - and that's no overstatement. The album also includes a couple of instrumental renditions of romantic mainstays such as Irving Berlin's 'Cheek To Cheek' and 'Let's Face The Music', and Weiss & Theile's 'What A Wonderful World'. They are enjoyable enough to listen to in their own right, but add nothing special to the album, and in fact the performance of 'What A Wonderful World' in track 18 needs to be programmed out in order for the listener to truly experience the majesty of Newman's final two cues. As Louis Armstrong himself might have said: What A Wonderful Score.

Track Listing: Running Time: 52 minutes 01 seconds

Universal UD-55229 (1998)

Music composed and conducted by Thomas Newman. Orchestrations by Thomas Pasatieri. Source music selections arranged and conducted by Chris Boardman. Recorded and mixed by Dennis Sands. Edited by Bill Bernstein. Mastered by Joe Gastwirt. Album produced by Thomas Newman and Bill Bernstein.


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