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Composed and Co-Produced by:
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Mark Mancina
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Co-Produced by:
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Charles Choi
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Release Date:
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December 11th, 2001
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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Domestic Disturbance: (Mark Mancina) Earlier in 2001, the film
Domestic Disturbance was mentioned as being one of the larger autumn
releases from Hollywood. It was to be a film of an intriguing suspenseful plot
that would carry it to deep riches at the box office. Unfortunately for the
film, it was released just before a Muggle-treasured film about a little school
named Hogwarts, and Domestic Disturbance thus disappeared off the charts
after only one week of theatrical success. With Travolta the boatmaker as the
center of attention, Domestic Disturbance is the typical "your ex-wife
marries a wealthy creep, your troubled kid knows the guy is a murderer, but
nobody believes the brat until everything gets really suspenseful" kind of
flick. After some confusion as to who would score the film, contemporary artist
Mark Mancina provided a functional score for the film. It was one of those
projects that fit a very familiar scoring formula for whomever would end up
composing for the story, and Mancina (who performs the bazouki, guitar,
mandolin, and piano in the score) did a decent job in producing more than what
was expected.
Before going any further, any knowledgable film score fan who paid attention to
the score in the film or has purchased the album already has undoubtedly noticed
the Basic Instinct influence on it. Even the label goes so far as to
mention the similarity on its press release for the album. The circumstances of
the similarity between Mancina's work and the Jerry Goldsmith classic don't
really matter; perhaps the film was temped with Basic Instinct, and
perhaps the director or producer looked Mancina in the eye and said "I want
Basic Instinct." In any case, Mancina produced a score that mirrors much
of the suspense of the motifs and instrumentation in Goldsmith's Basic
Instinct title tracks without laying on the heavy sexual undertones and
rhythms. Mancina did, though, add a few more contemporary touches to the
Basic Instinct spin, incorporating a guitar and accoustical bass to
accompany the woodwinds and strings that do much of the imitation. The theme
itself is sister to that of Goldsmith, not to forget even the echoing waves that
follow each few measures of the theme. Aside from the thematically inclined
cues, the film contains a majority of your run of the mill suspense music. With
the normal trombone and trumpet blasts, quivering strings, and drum pounding
that occupy most of the time on the score, there isn't much to write home about
when it comes to the horror. In these sequences, the music is more than adequate
for the film, but fits the label of stock suspense/horror music in nearly every
cue.
The album is a well organized presentation of Mancina's work for the film. The
thematic cues all exist in a group at the beginning of the album. For veteran
film score collectors, the cross between the theme of Basic Instinct and
the piano work of Randy Edelman's The Skulls in these tracks will be
unmistakable, and if such blatant rewrites bother you as a listener, then the
Domestic Disturbance album will likely drive you up a wall. Being such a
listener myself, I must admit, though, that Mancina's variation for Domestic
Disturbance is better than just about any inspired rewrite that I have heard
in years. The first three tracks are the only thematic representations on the
album, amounting to exactly ten minutes of music. Even though the album has a
short running time, the remaining nineteen minutes of horror and suspense music
isn't of much interest (and it may even be a tad bland for fans of Chris Young
suspense scores). But those first ten minutes offer three cues --and one lengthy
suite-- of Mancina at his best... when he takes a small orchestral ensemble and
infuses it with just enough of his contemporary elements to make it a very
enjoyable listen in both the film and on album. Perhaps these opening cues will
appear on one of his own compilations, or maybe on one from the label, but in
the meantime, if you can pick up this album for a discount price, the first ten
minutes will be rewarding. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Domestic Disturbance (1:59)
• 2. Guys Sailing (1:32)
• 3. Bitter Suite (6:29)
• 4. Run Away! (1:52)
• 5. Montage/Frank in Action (1:36)
• 6. Murder (3:02)
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• 7. Rick Threatens Danny (3:41)
• 8. Frank Flicks Lighter (2:17)
• 9. Fire Part 1 (1:00)
• 10. Fire Part 2 (1:46)
• 11. Frank the Outsider (0:49)
• 12. Fight/Aftermath (3:05)
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Insert includes no extra information
about the film, but list the performers of the Hollywood Studio Symphony.
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