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Dennis the Menace: (Jerry Goldsmith) Attempting to
continue the enormous fiscal success of
Home Alone, one of the
top grossing films of all time back during its craze in the early
1990's, producer John Hughes tells the very similarly-themed live action
tale of Dennis Mitchell, perhaps the most famous kid in the history of
comics. Created by Hank Ketcham and introduced in newspaper comics in
1951, Dennis has become a favorite in periodicals ever since, and his
appearances eventually expanded to include a weekly television series,
an animated program, and the 1993 feature film,
Dennis the
Menace. The film was largely ignored by audiences that had already
enjoyed their fill of two
Home Alone pictures and identified
Dennis the Menace as a recycled old formula. The casting and
settings were very well done, often appearing in live action just as you
have expected them from reading the comics, but the film suffered from
two fatal flaws: first, the slapstick, cruel comedy towards Dennis'
neighbor, Mr. Wilson, had already been done to more deserving people in
the aforementioned
Home Alone films, and secondly, the inclusion
of Christopher Lloyd's "Switchblade Sam" character (a thief and, in
today's culture, probably a pervert, too) who served only to make
parents even more fearful of weirdos wandering around the neighborhood.
Composer Jerry Goldsmith seemed to have caught the John Hughes train
(and plane and automobile) of success too late to really take advantage
of it in his effort to further expand his considerable quantity of
ventures into the light comedy realm in the early 1990's. His score for
Dennis the Menace resides within a film that causes parents to
glance for an hour and a half at the nearest exit, giving it a
disadvantage over, for instance, his numerous scores for Joe Dante's
more adult-friendly films. Goldsmith's exercise in
Dennis the
Menace is just that: a workout of marathon comedic proportions. The
composer's proficiency in this genre is executed in only the orchestral
domain this time, a rare circumstance in which his synthetic elements
are diminished to a purely background role. Also absent are the
outwardly funny nods of inspiration that often graced (or plagued) his
other works aimed at laughs.
In Goldsmith's comedy writing of this era, whether it
was for
Matinee,
Bad Girls, or
Mr. Baseball, there
is usually a redeeming quality existing in the form of a love theme or
other tender variation for fans who aren't interested in the bombast of
orchestral slapstick action. Without any of that kind of truly endearing
element in
Dennis the Menace (at least not one developed long
enough to warrant significant treatment), the score is one giant
slapstick progression, alternating between variations on two themes, one
for Dennis and one sort of sneaky mischief motif like the deep woodwind
identity utilized by John Williams in
Home Alone. The primary
theme has some perhaps intentional likeness to
The Great Train
Robbery (and an interlude that probably unintentionally mirrors
Poltergeist's children's theme), which might have some stretched
relativity to the subject matter. With electronics kept at a minimum
until some enhanced background tingling in the last two cues (though
their high volume in the mix is a little annoying at the very end), the
orchestra's personality is led by tuba and harmonica, representing the
two primary characters to the best of their abilities. These
performances by the solo instruments weave in and out of the full
ensemble throughout the score, the tuba trying especially hard to yank
out some laughs with its usual belching mannerisms. It was the most
consistently robust and frenetic orchestral score of its kind from
Goldsmith until
Looney Tunes: Back in Action, which has an
appropriately similar genre style, though
Dennis the Menace lacks
the instrumental or locale-specific creativity of that later score.
Among the highlights of
Dennis the Menace (honestly, it's
difficult to recall any one of them over another by the conclusion) are
the victorious fanfare for brass at the outset of "Hung Up" and the
suite-like presentation of thematic ideas (similar to
Matinee) in
the finale cue, "Toasted Marshmallow." Overall, Goldsmith has to be
commended for the difficult, sheer level of energy he maintains in
Dennis the Menace, but it is that same energy, along with a lack
of any substantially interesting or enjoyable thematic material, that
also sinks the score. The score-only album went out-of-print on the
doomed Big Screen Records label before long, and it is only recommended
for die-hard Jerry Goldsmith collectors whose tolerance of the
composer's children's genre tones exists without boundaries.
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| Bias Check: | For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.26 (in 113 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.32
(in 133,462 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes biographical information about Goldsmith and
the producer of the film.
