PAULIE

JOHN DEBNEY

Rating:

Original Review: I am constantly hoping that John Debney will be given the chance to re-visit the action and adventure genres which inspired him to compose such wonderful scores as Cutthroat Island and Sudden Death. For the time being, though, he seems to be stuck in a rut of writing music for inconsequential little comedies like Houseguest, Liar Liar, Carpool and this one - Paulie - a cash in on the talking animal craze begun by Babe, although the protagonist here is a precocious parrot rather than a pig. Given his rather uninspired inspiration, the music surprisingly good. The opening six-minute 'Paulie Medley' is a lively and enjoyable collection of all the score's main themes: a rousing main title, obviously modelled on Marc Shaiman's The American President, which has a terrific percussion section; a sweet "friendship" theme for Paulie's owner Marie, which features a couple of attractive solos for piano and violin; a harmonica-led chase scherzo full of knockabout frivolity; and one of those lovely, emotional climaxes you get in family movies when the little girl is reunited with her long-lost pet. There is a little bit of "mickey mousing" going on during the score, where the music follows each hit of action with a Carl Stalling Tom and Jerry cartoon style, instead of developing towards a natural conclusion, but I suppose that is one of the hazards of scoring this kind of movie. Nevertheless, many of the CD's cues are pleasing to the ear. 'Ivy and Paulie Head Out' is a sincere and attractive cue, with a prominent piano melody. There's a definite Danny Elfman influence upon the comical action cue 'The Bungled Burglar', and 'New Discoveries/Paulie and Cat' features some clever interplay between the various sections of the woodwind section, as well as a solo violin which mimics a feline meow. 'Paulie's Big Flight' recapitulates the rousing main theme, while the finale, 'Reunion With Marie', is suitably uplifting once you get past actress Trini Alvarado's awful singing, which is so funny it almost spoils the effect of the lovely music that follows it. In addition to Debney's score there are two throwaway Mexican folk-style dirges, 'Canción Del Mariachi' and 'Estoy Loco', performed with varying degrees of success by Cheech Marin, Jay Mohr, Tia Texada and Josh Cruze. I seem to remember 'Canción Del Mariachi' being performed over the opening credits of Antonio Banderas' ultra-violent action thriller Desperado a few years ago, and I have to say it works better there than it does here. 'Estoy Loco' is initially quite catchy but becomes increasingly off-putting as it wears on, particularly when Jay Mohr pipes up on the vocals with his abrasive New York accent, and also due to the fact that Tia Texada's rolling R's grate against my eardrums the more I hear them. They are the score's only low points. Much like the film itself, John Debney's score for Paulie is generally likeable and inoffensive, and although there is under half an hour's worth of music on the CD (less if you take away the pointless Mariachi songs), there is much to recommend. Die hard action fans will likely tire of it quickly, but sentimental fools will love it to bits.

Track Listing: Running Time: 29 minutes 34 seconds

Varčse Sarabande VSD-5936 (1998)

Music composed and conducted by John Debney. Orchestrations by Brad Dechter, Frank Bennett, Don Nemitz and Ira Hearshen. Includes extracts from "Marie" by Randy Newman. Featured musical soloists Sid Page, Dennis Karmazyn, David Lowe, Jim Kanter, Michael Lang and Tommy Morgan. Special vocal performance by Trini Alvarado. Recorded and mixed by Shawn Murphy. Edited and mastered by Tom Carlson. Album produced by John Debney and Tom Carlson.


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These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1999. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of my employer, the Trent Institute for Health Services Research, or those of the University of Sheffield.