Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if inoffensive, conservative holiday drama and a dash of occasional prancing comedy soothe your spirit without risking boredom. Avoid it... if you figure you're going to hear vivacious enthusiasm from Michael Giacchino for this topic, a personality mostly absent from the composition and drained completely by a muted, lifeless recording. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
The Family Stone: (Michael Giacchino) The term "dramedy" was invented precisely to describe movies like 2005's The Family Stone, an ensemble cast endeavor taking family get-togethers at the holidays to disastrous and redemptive ends. Like many other movies that create their humor by forcing people of disparate personalities into one room, this one has the normal array of spats, misunderstandings, crying, and forgiveness, all in a package sure to make the average man wince. In this case, Sarah Jessica Parker plays a successful New York City businesswoman (fathom that...) who is brought to the Connecticut family estate of her boyfriend for the obligatory "meet the parents" scenario at the holidays. He intends to propose marriage to her, but all goes afoul when other men and women enter the equation and make for one massive heterosexual disaster of confusion. People end up running around the house in a panic, insulting each other at the dinner table, unsure about who has slept with whom, and arguing the usual debates about socio-political topics that seem to tickle Hollywood filmmakers. There's snow and Christmas cheer, too, and with a more than decent cast of familiar names, The Family Stone managed to earn mixed reviews, a substantial financial haul worldwide, and awards recognition for Parker. Director Thomas Bezucha saw the original score for his film as an integral part of its festive mood, aiding in a soundtrack destined to be littered with half a dozen holiday standards from classic pop-culture voices. He had been immensely impressed with the work of composer Michael Giacchino for The Incredibles and hired him with certainty for The Family Stone. Giacchino had not yet achieved the status he would enjoy later in the decade after his success in the animated realm. In fact, in 2005, he was still relatively fresh to the realm of feature films, mainly known for his video game and television work. Romantic comedies and light drama on this platform were new challenges for the composer, and he responded with a workmanlike effort that pushes all the right buttons when needed while taking few stylistic chances. His task was to deliver music that balances the haywire comedic chasing with the respectful family drama, all the while tapping into some of the wholesome instrumentation expected for the snowy setting. In many ways, The Family Stone was a trial run for a collaboration that continued with Monte Carlo in 2011, the latter featuring far more pizzazz and less intrinsic accessibility for casual appreciation on album. While one could say that Giacchino nailed the demeanor of The Family Stone, it's interesting to note that he approached the story from the perspective of classicism rather than pop-culture romance. It would have been easy to imagine Hans Zimmer and his entourage providing an equally sappy but somewhat contemporary tone for the same project. Giacchino instead highlights his work with a spritely waltz representing the perky, illustrious nature of the family and its home. Two versions of this main theme exist on the album release, both occasionally reminding of something Elmer Bernstein would have written during the height of his comedy period in the early 1980's. This tone bleeds into the score proper at times (as in "Millie's Famous Brownies," "They're Here," and "Hi"), but the majority of The Family Stone is far more subdued. Sparsely light cuteness abounds in plucky rhythms and whimsical string and woodwind lines that don't really accomplish any narrative development above basic mood setting. As the score progresses, it loses the slight slapstick nature inherent in the waltz of the main theme and transforms into a disappointingly standard collection of ambient, tonal expressions of easy drama for the orchestra's lighter elements. In "Dawn," this transformation becomes complete, with only a few outward comedic cues thereafter to break the sometimes nearly inaudible environment. The lengthy "It's Snowing" cue swells to provide a touch of silver screen magic, confirmed by flute and piano in "A Very Good Tree." The album provides a summary of this airy and palatable development of the score's dramatic sub-theme in "The Family Stone (Suite)," concluding with a charming full ensemble expression of this dainty but pretty idea. On the whole, Giacchino's music is inoffensive at every moment but difficult to appreciate due to its total anonymity. Despite its faults, at least Monte Carlo would be catchier. Instead, The Family Stone doesn't really exude much convincing holiday spirit (you'll have a hard time hearing sleigh bells or anything else of such associations), and the lighter instruments tend to get lost in a dull mix. Giacchino scores recorded and mixed by Dan Wallin have a tendency to sound extremely muted and distant, a frightfully dry and flat ambience making the music sound as though it is playing from a closet. This form of presentation nearly ruins The Family Stone by draining all the life out of a score that was already conservatively rendered on paper. There is simply no vivacity to this music, whether in composition, performance, or recording, and it's a good thing that the Christmas carols weren't included on the album, for they would have completely overshadowed this effectively pretty but unmemorable score. *** Track Listings:
Total Time: 43:59
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