Buy it... only if you seek to complete your collection of James Horner scores with this appropriately introspective and depressing piano, woodwind, and synthesizer music.

Avoid it... if you ever want to emerge from the foggy and dreary atmosphere of this sparsely respectful and pretty score during its brief and arguably monotonous running time.

Horner

Extreme Close-Up: (James Horner) The topic of depression has rarely been hammered home as thoroughly as it was in the MGM television film Extreme Close-Up, produced by Ed Zwick and airing October 22nd, 1990, on NBC. Despite positive reviews all around, the movie went on to limited exposure and failed to gain a video or DVD release. Starring Blair Brown and Craig T. Nelson in the roles of parents of three children, Extreme Close-Up deals with the depression and ineffectiveness of those characters, though examined in a different way. The mother's attempts at suicide and eventual self-destruction are viewed in flashbacks through the video tapes of one of her sons, who is obsessed with living his life through the edited movies he creates from his constantly rolling tape. As frustrating as the mother's spiraling existence is, the son's inability to grasp the real world is the troubled center of the story. Only by rearranging portions of his footage into new montages can he finally break loose and not only connect with reality, but also help to bring his ailing family together. As you can tell, Extreme Close-Up isn't exactly the kind movie you seek for pure enjoyment, and for anyone who has dealt with the successful suicide of a family member, it's a touchy subject. This film goes a bit far in pushing the topic, arguably, by making the fiery automobile accident that claimed the mother's life available on videotape, however, which seems too conveniently concocted. By 1990, composer James Horner had graduated from the realm of television which he had considered a place where many promising scoring careers go to die. He was always the type to seek only the opportunities in feature film scoring, though he did take a few early assignments for the small screen. One of his later endeavors was indeed Extreme Close-Up, brought about through the overwhelmingly successful collaboration with Zwick on the previous year's Glory. Horner had clearly established himself as a master of fantasy, science-fiction, drama, and any other genre conducive to scores of substantial scope. The early 1990's saw a shift towards intimate character scores of equal harmony and lesser volume from the composer, however, and Extreme Close-Up is an early reflection of the resulting style of music.

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The score that has the most in common with Extreme Close-Up is, interestingly, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which really only proves that Horner has maintained a great affection for this type of introspective material ever since first exploring its sparse mannerisms. The style of the score is purely Horner, featuring instrumentation and progressions that are unmistakably his. The ensemble consists of three performers, including himself and usual collaborators Randy Kerber and Ian Underwood. They perform on piano, solo woodwinds, harp, and synthesizer, with seemingly a quick contribution by solo cello in the concluding cue. This kind of atmosphere, which existed for times with the same very somber, slow pacing in The Name of the Rose and Unlawful Entry, may be too simplistic to engage many listeners, though Horner successfully captures the essence of personal loss and alienation while adhering to obvious budgetary restrictions. Thematically, the score relies on one idea for the mother, introduced in "Extreme Close-Up" and expressed in turmoil until the redemptive "Final Tribute." The pulsating piano and synthesizer interludes to this somewhat standard theme rise and fall in patterns familiar to Horner's normal contemplative tones, also shifting between his usual minor and major figures as the resolution unfolds. The short concert arrangement of the theme that opens the album release features the only spark of life in this theme's pacing; it's all downhill in terms of attitude from there. To this end, Horner does succeed in giving the characters on screen a depressing backdrop. The woodwinds never manage to convey any sense of hope like the flutes in Horner's scores sometimes accomplish with their wondrously fluttering movements. The synthesizers offer the same high-pitched environment of hazy dissonance that listeners will recognize from many Horner scores (and The New World perhaps the most). The 38 minutes of music wafts effortlessly through the background of your room and only interrupts the lightly pleasant experience with occasional crescendos of the synthetic element or deep thuds of the piano. Ultimately, a lack of dynamic range forces the score towards a drab personality suitable for a dark, foggy day. The immediately sold-out 2009 album of 1,500 copies from Intrada Records passes quickly and quietly, and unless you are an extreme Horner enthusiast, Extreme Close-Up is the kind of score to be appreciated once rather than enjoyed repeatedly.   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Music as Written for the Film: ***
Music as Heard on Album: **
Overall: ***

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For James Horner reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.13 (in 98 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.25 (in 184,725 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.