Buy it... if you fell in love with the whimsical, hopeless romanticism of Rachel Portman's music for Only You and enjoy her sense of humor when conjuring prancing comedy rhythms.

Avoid it... if Portman's fluffy romance writing consistently leaves you retching in the aisles.

Portman

Addicted to Love: (Rachel Portman) Although it proves that Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick don't have the same magical chemistry that prevails every time audiences see Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks together, Addicted to Love never attempts to prove itself using the inevitable story involving them. Instead, we're treated to dark comedy about revenge, and so dirty and nasty are some of the jokes pulled on the ex-lovers of the characters played by Ryan and Broderick that you forget about the unlikelihood of their own pairing. The Griffen Dunne film was intended by Warner Brothers to be yet another romantic comedy vehicle for Ryan, and while the film was truly funny in a unique (and occasionally bizarre) manner, it never really caught on with the mainstream. Still, much about the production was as loveable and adorable as both Ryan and Broderick tended to be in the 1990's, and the fluffy heart under the grungy exterior posted by the characters and their surroundings is conveyed with ease by Rachel Portman's score. It is likely that Portman received the offer for Addicted to Love as a result, to some degree, of her stunningly effective score for the romantic drama Only You a few years earlier. The immense popularity of that score had solidified Portman's credentials as one of Britain's foremost light comedy writers, and her ability to conjure convincingly airy fluff from an orchestra, seemingly on command, made her a perfect choice for a film like Addicted to Love. Another important facet of Portman's abilities at the time was her equally charming ideas for mischief, whether it involved the chasing rhythms of Only You or the wacky instrumentation of The Road to Wellville. This latter style would play a far greater role in Addicted to Love, because before the audience is treated to the expected romantic discovery of the two leads as a couple, the film runs through a series of practical jokes that tested Portman's ability to keep up with their malevolence. Her music is intentionally comical to such a degree that it will recall Carl Stalling's music for old Warner cartoons, a style that was over-the-top even for Portman at the time. So while the on screen action can get quite brutal between ex-lovers, Portman's score always roots the film in the whimsical fantasy world that had led to her Oscar win in the previous year for Emma.

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Portman wrote two primary themes for Addicted to Love, one for romance and the other for mischief, and the latter theme is adapted into a variety of different bubbly and prancing rhythms that move with the intensity of each act of revenge. The love theme is a close cousin to the material in Only You, indistinguishable in fact for the non-Portman enthusiast. Its use in Addicted to Love is unfortunately limited due to the fact that the film doesn't outwardly develop its love story until late in its script. A dreamy string preview of the theme opens Broderick's sunny lifestyle in "Observatory" and is joined by elegant piano accompaniment in "We're Even." The two highlight cues are "Painting the Wall" and "Sam Comes Home," both of which feature rambling piano rhythms that lead to beautiful string renditions of the theme with broad brass backing (in other words, it's Only You). The latter, finale cue will induce goosebumps for the right crowd. This theme goes through some tricky variations, including an innocent and bouncing rhythmic version in "Sam's Charts" and a melodramatically comical waltz-like variation in "Sam and Maggie Make Love." The second theme, used in various depths of power and tempo by the ensemble depending on the prank of the moment, is initially heard in "Water Pistol Attack" and eventually builds throughout the film until a frantic and percussively robust explosion for rambling bass woodwinds and tubas in "Fight" (in other words, it's The Road to Wellville). There is a happy medium between these cues, and it exists in the short bursts during "Walk Across the Street" and "Cockroaches," the latter among the funniest cues with its snare rips and orchestral spasms of hysteria following. Amongst these cues, there's the Stalling-like plotting music, like "Back to the Plan." A direct nod to Only You comes with the faux-melancholy longing from an accordion at the start of "We're Even." For the Portman collector, Addicted to Love is itself addictive, with an album that features thirty minutes of her score after eight extraordinarily diverse songs that beg to be skipped. It's a predictable listening experience, and while film score fans tired of her trademark comedy romance sound will mock every moment of its length, it's evidence of an artist who knew what she was doing, and the film is infinitely more entertaining and grounded in optimism than it would be otherwise. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

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For Rachel Portman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.26 (in 28 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.23 (in 25,299 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.