Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... only if you are completely prepared for the mundane levels of James Horner's minimalistic underscore for piano, sax, and synthesizer. Avoid it... if your interest in Horner's work only rises when the composer attempts something new and emphasized with emotional development. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Class Action: (James Horner) While many of director Michael Apted's films have a longevity of popularity based on their quality, Class Action isn't one of them. That's not to say that the 1991 film isn't without its fair share of merits, with a fairly positive critical response to the film yielding absolutely no audience response. A father and daughter tandem of lawyers, played by Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, finds themselves on opposite sides of the bar and arguing a large, contemporary class action case against each other. The father is more of the radical, sleazy type of attorney who jumps to serve a case against an automaker whose 1985 station wagons have a tendency to explode. His daughter represents the big business interests, and the case allows the entire family to interact in such ways as to expose and deal with each character's flaws. Apted seems to enjoy making films about people in their journeys towards self-discovery, and in the case of Class Action, it is Mastrantonio's portrayal of the growing up and coming to terms with Hackman's (and her own) flaws that highlights the film. In these regards, screenwriters Carolyn Shelby, Christopher Ames, and Samantha Shad nicely avoided the pitfalls of cliche in a project that otherwise had cliche written all over it. As for the score for the film, Class Action marked the second of three notable collaborations between composer James Horner and Apted, ranging from Gorky Park way back in 1983 to Thunderheart in 1992, which is one of the better scores to ever exist in an Apted film. Apted would then jump around between composers before settling on David Arnold multiple times in the late 1990's. On Horner's part, Class Action is as basic of a contribution to a film that a score can have. With so much attention placed on the dialogue and acting in the film, the music serves only the minimal purpose of filling dead air in the film. With an obvious minimalistic approach in mind, you can't really blame Horner for the lack of enthusiasm in his work. From the opening to closing notes of Class Action, there doesn't exist even one inspiring moment. Horner's cost-efficient performing ensemble consists mostly of himself, with a piano and synthesizer array joined occasionally by a saxophone. With his own piano performances carrying much of of the score, as well as a rather low gain mix on the album as a whole, it's easy to forget that any music is playing at all. Only one primary theme exists in Class Action, and its introduction in the first bars of the "Main Title" lead to a insufferably countless repetition of that theme thereafter. The opening and closing performances of that theme are the most developed instrumentally, backed by light, meandering keyboarding, a synthetic high-tone choir, a few magical swishes of metal, an electric bass sound, and the sax over the top. A lazy, slightly jazzy swing defines the theme's attitude, although the contemporary instrumentation of the piece is betrayed by the lack of power necessary to establish a realistic presence in this "big court case" film. The theme is essentially based on ideas later heard in Sneakers, but with all the life sucked out of it. Straight piano solos for subsequent cues in the score simply reshuffle and repeat this theme countless times, with little genuine emotion or any emphasis in performance that would give us any reason to maintain interest in it. This lifeless music continues during the entire length of the score and is interrupted only by a high-class piano piece not from Horner and the cues "Stolen Files" and "The Trial" as the film nears its climax. A slightly heightened rhythm in "Stolen Files" is joined by a familiar, light tapping of percussion that would hint at some of the suspense in The Pelican Brief. For "The Trial," Horner would employ a lengthy series of dissonant keyboard strokes. But aside from these slight variations, Class Action contains little variation. Without the very casually appealing sax performances of the title theme, this score would sink down to Unlawful Entry level of total disinterest. ** Track Listings:
Total Time: 32:20
* composed by Harry Warren and Mac Gordon. All artwork and sound clips from Class Action are Copyright © 1991, Varèse Sarabande. The reviews and notes 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 6/15/98, updated 3/24/05. Review Version 4.1 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 1998-2005, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. |
