Buy it... if you are an enthusiastic Danny Elfman collector who can enjoy hearing his talents in several different genres intermingling in one spirited, diverse score.

Avoid it... if you are distressed by Elfman's ability to establish and convey a somber tone and are hoping for a dose of grand choral beauty to compensate for this mood.

Elfman

Big Fish: (Danny Elfman) Adapted from Daniel Wallace's novel "Big Fish: A Story of Mythic Proportions," the premise of this film accomplishes exactly what director Tim Burton loves the most: to tell a tear-jerking dramatic tale in the context of a wildly imaginative distortion of reality. With lavish production values, Big Fish is the story of a dying father in Alabama who has spent a lifetime telling his son tall tales about his own youth, with most of the stories far too bizarre to be true. Through the retelling of the stories, the son lets the audience decide what is true and what is not, thus allowing viewers to determine the level of forgiveness that should be afforded the father. Thus, you get a father-mother-son reconciliation story in the context of totally grandiose fables involving a 10-foot gentle giant, crazy circus performers, a glass-eyed fortune-telling witch, conjoined Korean twin night club singers, and one absolutely gargantuan catfish. Critical reaction to the film often depended on the capacity of the individual critic's imagination, with an either "love it or hate it" response. What you gain from the outstanding adventures and the heart-warming love story are perhaps lost in the contrasting examination of the stark realities of life and death, and, for some, that gap may be too great. In terms of its production, when you see projects like Big Fish, you have to stop for a moment and be appreciative of the fact that the partnership between Burton and composer Danny Elfman was once again alive and well in the 2000's. Also a sucker for stories of just this kind, Elfman had a more difficult task than you might expect upon accepting this assignment. Instead of pouring on a straight forward dose of fairy-tale sentiment, Elfman was forced to combine the circus-like environment with American Deep South locations, the sensitive real-life reconciliation of a family, and a variety of reality-altering motifs associated with the tales. The result of the score could very well be termed the third volume of "Music for a Darkened Theatre," because it allows Elfman to roam into the wide variety of genres that he usually expands upon on a one-by-one basis for each of his other works.

The tones of shifting locales and melodramatic, emotional upheaval prevalent in his style can often play havoc with the consistency of his scores out of context, but Elfman manages to traverse the entire spectrum of his palette without allowing one jarring transition to slip into his score for Big Fish. The diversity of Elfman's talents are on full display in this effort, with modern bluegrass sounds mingling with historical Southern flavor, his typical choral beauty, a fair amount of depressing underscore, and a few flashes of more contemporary rhythms. Early cues even explore the composer's most low-key and subdued, sentimental tones of introspection for a small ensemble. Thus, you can't compare Big Fish to any one of Elfman's other scores in particular. Instead, by listing the stylistic references to his previous works in sum, you can start to get an accurate picture of the overall equation. First and foremost, Elfman collectors who got a taste of his classic beauty of Edward Scissorhands in 2000's The Family Man were hoping for more of the same in Big Fish. Unfortunately, for you fans in particular, there are no majestic outbursts of theme and chorus in this outing. The "Underwater" cue, a short but memorable highlight, does offer some of this harmonic brilliance on a lesser scale; the choral use is usually kept to the smaller size and background role heard in Elfman's scores of this era (in which the vocals were typically light and fluffy in a supporting position in the mix). The personality of Big Fish is driven by the fiddle and other specialty instruments meant to emphasize a Southern lifestyle, and this is a touch that Elfman had rarely employed since the gorgeous tandem of Sommersby and Black Beauty. Some listeners will equate this sound, along with the score's instrumental diversity, with Thomas Newman or James Horner's more spirited parochial works. An electric base often accompanies cues of underscore while dialogue is prominent, bringing Elfman's subtle synthetic rhythms from his late-90's scores into the mix. The employment of a piano for the most touching moments of family unity is another reminder of early 2000's dramas from the composer.

Elfman's primary theme for Big Fish is underwhelming, although very pretty and pleasant in its harmony. A sub-theme for the Sandra character is more heavily romantic, but Elfman applies a touch of tragedy to "Sandra Theme" by presenting the theme in the major-key until the final note ominously and tragically shifts and dies in the minor key. Elfman repeats this process a few times in the work, presenting a cue largely in the major key until the final note makes a transition into the minor. Perhaps he does this to bring the stories back into their sad, later context, but the move serves as a constant reminder to the listener that there is tragedy mixed into the glory of the primary character's youthful adventures. The orchestra is almost always present to back up the primary solo instruments with a full, rounded accompaniment, further weighing on the listener's heart. Be aware that if you enjoy the carnival atmosphere of the score's mid-section (including the victorious "Growing Montage," complete with bold brass and tolling chimes), the personality of Big Fish, while often cheerful during the adventures, is subdued and solemn on an introverted level in its other parts (much like Sommersby once again). A single music box used in a few cues is a good example of that sentiment here. In short, Big Fish flies across the spectrum of Elfman's talents, but does not exhibit his beauty in its grandest form. It is a highly personal and humble score that demands a listener with an open frame of mind to fully appreciate. On album, Sony presents listeners with about 40 minutes of Elfman's score for the film, and even at this somewhat shorter running time, fans of the composer will delight in the full range of his styles at work there. The rest of the album has a predictably awkward collection of songs from many eras (definitely a result of Burton's tastes), but with the exception of the final song number for the conjoined Korean twins, even they are appealing by themselves. Overall, Big Fish is a solid and imaginative score with cohesive spirit. With its somewhat surprising nominations for a Golden Globe and Academy Award, the score assisted in erasing the memories of Elfman's awkward failure for The Hulk earlier in the year. ****

Bias Check:

For Danny Elfman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.13 (in 40 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.29 (in 93,023 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.