THE NEGOTIATOR

GRAEME REVELL

Rating:

Original Review: In a recent poll, Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey were voted the two best cinema actors of the 1990s. We're not talking about the film stars who bring in the most grosses here, mind you - were talking ACTORS in the fullest sense of the word, who thrill and delight and entertain with their impassioned, convincing performances in everything in which they appear. Spacey, of course, won the Oscar for his unforgettable role in The Usual Suspects, while Jackson should have won for his equally unforgettable turn in Pulp Fiction (he lost to Martin Landau's Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood). The Negotiator, directed by F. Gary Gray, brought the two together for the first time.

Essentially, the film is a vehicle for Spacey and Jackson to show off their thespian skills. Jackson plays a crack hostage negotiator who has the tables turned and finds himself being on the other side of the fence, kidnapping several public figures and holding them in an office block in an attempt to clear his name after he is accused of a crime he did not commit. Enter fellow negotiator Spacey, specifically asked for by Jackson's character, who the police hope will be able to talk him down. This interesting, exciting premise is lifted almost to unbearable levels by the showcase performances by the two leads, and by the tense atmosphere created by the production.

Enhancing the feelings of electrified anxiety is Graeme Revell's nervous, pulsating score which, although superficially nothing more than a combination of Hans Zimmer's synths with James Horner's strings, still makes for a solid, if a little predictable, listen. As usual, Revell makes generous use of lots of deep, booming synth effects overlaid by dense string work and thunderous percussion, highlighted perfectly in the entertaining opening cue, 'Hostage Crisis'. (Trivia fans note: the Untouchables style four-note descending string motif in this track was also used in a highly successful car commercial that featured Claudia Schiffer gradually undressing herself while climbing into a Citroën Xsara).

Sadly, the style and panache of the opening is never quite recaptured in later cues which, although loud and exciting, tend to come across as being nothing more than sub-par Media Ventures clones which fail to leave an impression. Nevertheless, some cues ('The Stakeout', 'The Second Breach', 'Escape' and especially 'The Final Breach') are agreeable enough, with layer upon layer of thumping synth pads and hyperventilating percussion, while others ('Take The Shot', 'Bluff and Double Bluff', 'Chris Sabian Replaced') boast impressive, elegiac, Crimson Tide-style male voice choir elements accompanying slow, hymn-like string lines.

The ten-minute finale, consisting of the cues 'End Game' and 'End Titles', is actually rather good, especially when a surprisingly tender acoustic guitar, and then a large bed of brooding romantic strings enter the fray during the middle of 'End Game'. In addition, the cue which James Horner fans (such as myself) are likely to get a kick out of is the short but haunting 'Elegy', which blatantly but cleverly emulates Braveheart's emotional bagpipe sound. Before readers cry foul, however, be aware that this cue underscores a scene of a police funeral - at which, very often, bagpipes are played.

The overall problem with The Negotiator is that there is nothing at all in this album which immediately says "I Was Composed By Graeme Revell". The music is accomplished enough, but very generic, and there is nothing distinctive enough to make the listener instantly recognise it as being a score from the pen of the New Zealander. This is a problem which often manifests itself in Revell's work. Whereas writers such as Goldsmith, Williams, Horner, even Elliot Goldenthal and David Arnold have a signature style which immediately allows the listener to sit up and identify the respective composers, Revell's scores could have been written by anyone else totally, and one would never spot the difference. Film composers do have to be musical chameleons, but not be so chameleon-like that you never notice them at all.

Track Listing: Running Time: 41 minutes 37 seconds

Restless Records 74321-621762 (1998)

Music composed by Graeme Revell. Conducted by Tim Simonec. Orchestrations by Tim Simonec, Del Hake and Clifford J. Tasner. Synth programming and arrangements by Paul Haslinger. Recorded and mixed by Dan Wallin and John Kurlander. Edited by Josh Wingett. Album produced by Graeme Revell.


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