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Angie
(1994)
Composed, Conducted, and Produced by:
Jerry Goldsmith

Orchestrated by:
Arthur Morton

Label:
Varèse Sarabande

Release Date:
March 1st, 1994

Also See:
Love Field
Forever Young
Matinee

Audio Clips:
1. Angie's Theme (0:30), 150K angie1.ra

7. We're Having a Baby (0:31), 158K angie7.ra

9. Journey Begins (0:30), 150K angie9.ra

13. Angie's Theme (Reprise) (0:30), 150K angie13.ra

Availability:
Regular U.S. release. Re-pressed in identical form on December 11th, 1997.

Awards:
  None.









Angie

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Buy it... if you enjoy Jerry Goldsmith's tender, fluid, and easy comedy/light drama scores despite the familiarity of the themes and instrumentation.

Avoid it... if you enjoy Goldsmith's comedy and drama separately at their finest, and you don't need a balancing act that leaves both sounds lukewarm.



Goldsmith
Angie: (Jerry Goldsmith) In a feature film that was originally set to have starred Madonna as the title character, Angie takes Geena Davis instead on a wild ride from New York comedy to larger American melodrama. Adapted from Avra Wing's novel "Angie, I Says," Todd Graff's script is executed on the big screen by director Martha Coolidge, whose involvement with the project would have seemed like an appropriate one given her well-received work on another "woman's coming of age" film, Rambling Rose. The problem with the film, however --and it was greeted with indifference by both critics and audiences-- was the indecision about which direction to take Angie in relation to its genre. The first half of the film is a very funny, almost sitcom-style comedy, taking us on a journey of relational problems with considerable New York flavour. The latter half of the film is much more heavy-handed on the drama, exploring far deeper issues than the first half of the film could possibly foreshadow. It is this twist of focus that either soured the lighthearted mood or saved you from it, and in either case, the wandering focus would doom the picture. Coolidge claims that she believed the scoring task for Angie would be a difficult one, perhaps because of these two contrasting styles in one film. Composer Jerry Goldsmith, however, seemed to have the ability to step up to the challenge. The early 1990's were the ultimate proof of the veteran composer's versatility, with sensitivity for smaller films flowing steadily from his pen in the early years of that decade. Balancing the comedy and drama elements in Angie was accomplished by Goldsmith, some would say, although the need to walk the tightrope between both means that the score doesn't really excel in either the comedy or drama.

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Regardless of the pickle that the film's wayward direction put the composer into, the final Angie identity does have a great amount of charm and affection. A delightful melody for the title character inhabits the entire score, with variations bubbling up from light rhythms in the first half to melodramatic strings and keyboarding in the latter half. The introduction of "Angie's Theme" is done in almost a child-like manner, perhaps representing the character before her "growing up" experiences occur later in the film. This theme is delicately played by accordion, piano, Mancini-style strings, and electric bass with a faint waltz-like rhythm. In subsequent tracks, this theme is put through a more jovial Italian rendition (for Angie's Italian boyfriend), placing the previous, French sensibilities of the title theme in a somewhat awkward ethnic position. Goldsmith's synthesized elements tingle over the top as they almost always did at the time, and the electronic loops keep a low profile throughout much of the score. Outside of the rhythmic "Family Life" cue, one that shares many traits with Rachel Portman's upbeat comedy writing, the score relies on very low-key, nearly solo performances of melody. As the film takes a turn towards the more serious, and the title character ventures on a search for her long lost mother (in "The Journey Begins"), the score uses the minimal power of its partial ensemble to generate some substantive worry and doubt. A solo trumpet is given the task of representing the wandering spirit of the character, although the lack of power in these cues --written to be melodramatic-- causes them to fall short due to rather tepid instrumentation. When you stand back and look at Angie as a whole, you almost wish that the comedy was more spirited and the drama more weighty, even though the director likely advised Goldsmith to keep as even of a keel as possible between the two halves. On album, Angie is a short, fluid, and easy listening experience. But the composer has written better comedy and better drama separately in other far better scores, leaving Angie as a shadow of the composer's more successful works. **

Bias Check:For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.22 (in 111 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.36 (in 120,040 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.





 Viewer Ratings and Comments:  


Regular Average: 2.96 Stars
Smart Average: 2.92 Stars*
***** 27 
**** 18 
*** 32 
** 28 
* 24 
  (View results for all titles)
    * Smart Average only includes
         40% of 5-star and 1-star votes
              to counterbalance fringe voting.
   Excellent!
  Rende -- 10/4/06 (2:47 p.m.)
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 Track Listings: Total Time: 34:36


• 1. Angie's Theme (3:32)
• 2. Shopping (1:21)
• 3. Family Life (1:20)
• 4. Museum (2:32)
• 5. Two Bells (2:34)
• 6. Thais (Massenet) (4:21)
• 7. We're Having a Baby (1:07)
• 8. Prognosis (3:28)
• 9. Journey Begins (2:27)
• 10. Something Better (3:52)
• 11. It Ain't Easy (3:02)
• 12. He's Alive (3:07)
• 13. Angie's Theme (Reprise) (1:22)




 Notes and Quotes:  


The insert includes an interesting pictorial of Goldsmith and his team at work, as well as the following note from director Martha Coolidge:

    "From the very beginning of Angie I knew that the challenge to the composer was going to be especially difficult. Because of this, I asked for Jerry Goldsmith. Despite being intimidated by his legendary status I found him wonderfully responsive to both the movie and to me.

    He saw several early cuts of the picture and we talked about the music extensively. I felt that because it is an intimate movie, it shouldn't have a 'big,' dramatic score. He agreed and wanted to develop a theme with a folk-like melody. The elegant simplicity of the score for Angie speaks for Jerry's uncompromising originality and heart.

    Thank you, Jerry!"





   
  All artwork and sound clips from Angie are Copyright © 1994, Varèse Sarabande. The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications. Audio clips can be heard using RealPlayer but cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 6/1/98 and last updated 3/10/05. Review Version 5.0 (PHP). Copyright © 1998-2009, Christian Clemmensen (Filmtracks Publications). All rights reserved.