Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you are familiar with Randy Edelman's distinctive action style and enjoy his simple but functional combination of synthetic and organic components in undemanding structures. Avoid it... if you feel the need to be challenged by your film music, for Edelman breaks absolutely no new ground with this effort. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
The Mask: (Randy Edelman) As difficult as it may be to recollect in retrospect, the 1994 Charles Russell comedy The Mask was considered by many movie reviewers to finally be a chance to see actor Jim Carrey perform some real acting in the mainstream. This, because the Ace Ventura star actually had a rather serious alter ego in The Mask, one that stumbles upon a magical tribal mask through improbable means early in story and is transformed into the Carrey that more people will appreciate. When affixing the mask to his face, this rather nerdy and shy man becomes a Tasmanian Devil in a zoot suit, his facial features exaggerated and his mannerisms animated in ways never imagined just a few years prior when live action and cartoons were merged in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The early 1990's brought the CGI revolution, however, and the only reason The Mask existed was to allow the computer whizzes at Industrial Light and Magic to turn their attention from dinosaurs to Carrey's physical humor. The production was little more than an excuse to show the actor not only wildly overperforming in usual slapstick fashion, but also to use its sizable special effects budget to accentuate that exact element. It also happened to be the debut of Cameron Diaz, introduced in both vibrant colors and skimpy outfits. Together, the antics of The Mask grossed well over $100 million and propelled Carrey into a series of similar, though lower budget comedies of a ridiculous nature. Perhaps with its budget exhausted by the fees from ILM, bargain composer Randy Edelman was hired to provide the frenetic score for The Mask. In many ways, this assignment would have been best suited for the likes of David Newman or Jerry Goldsmith, and it is not surprising that in its most effective moments, Edelman's score resembles the work of these composers. With Edelman, however, you know exactly what you're going to get: basic structures, plenty of keyboards and drum pads, and a marginal role for an orchestral ensemble. This formula is, as you would imagine, sufficient to meet the basic needs of the film. But, as is typically the case with Edelman's music for assignments that seem a bit of a stretch for him, the music is highly restricted by the composer's own tendencies, reducing it to a series of rather cheap-sounding and predictable ideas. There's an intangibly affable quality to Edelman's fluffy action writing, and The Mask employs this sound liberally. It's a score that tries so very hard to be as dynamic as Carrey's performance, only to make a lot of noise without any true energy built into its constructs. It's easy to hear what Edelman was trying to accomplish at every moment of The Mask (it certainly is functionally consistent), though whatever grace of the melodic lines or fright of the pounding, dissonant figures that delineate the romance and mysticism in the score is compromised by the fact that Edelman's smusic simply sounds cheap. This circumstance was a critical point of failure in his popular score for Gettysburg the previous year, though it's less of a problem here because of the silly tone of this story. Whenever Edelman attempts to challenge the abilities of the (Irish!) orchestral ensemble to produce the Warner Brothers cartoon style of sound that he attempts to emulate here, his abrasive keyboards and drum pads interfere. It's a problem that will doom this score for some listeners. For others, however, there is some merit to be heard in the enthusiasm of the work's highlights. There are essentially two themes in The Mask, one of tender woodwind stature (most fully realized in "Lovebirds") and the other of brass (and faux brass) menace for the mask itself, heard immediately in "Opening - The Origin of the Mask." The latter theme has an introductory motif of suspense that combines David Newman's stereotypical comic atmosphere with Carter Burwell's somewhat awkward chord shifts. The love theme is extended in "The Man Behind the Mask" and "Finale" while the mask's theme (exploding in the last moments of the opening cue) is heard frequently during Carrey's (and others') transformation scenes later on. Intriguingly, starting with a foreshadowing at the end of the first cue, Edelman sometimes combines the first half of the love theme with the second half of the mask theme, most notably in "Tango in the Park." Because of the somewhat unclear time frame in which the story exists, Diaz's sultry character receives a vintage, sax-led jazz identity in "Tina." There is also an undercurrent of carnival rhythm in The Mask, performed by the keyboards in pan pipe mode. Edelman uses this style of playfulness in lieu of pure orchestral ruckus of a bombastic nature for Carrey's most hyperactive scenes. The action material is best represented by "Milo to the Rescue." Which shifts from robust orchestral rhythms in the first thirty seconds to lame synthetic pounding thereafter. The fake choral effects don't help. Overall, this is an Edelman score through and through, which means that it will entertain those who don't require instrumental sincerity and complex structures at times when they are the most necessary. This music serves its purpose and offers five minutes of truly lovely solo woodwind and piano performances of the love theme. For such a dumb film, that's fine, but don't bother looking for a copy of the short-printed score-only album unless you have no qualms about the limitations built in to Edelman's method of operation at the time. *** Track Listings:
Total Time: 35:39
All artwork and sound clips from The Mask are Copyright © 1994, Tristar Music. 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 11/16/09, updated 11/16/09. Review Version 4.1 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 2009-2013, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. |
