Buy it... if you enjoy aggressive and frenetic suspense scores for large symphonic ensembles.

Avoid it... if you demand a sizable and distinct theme to your action scores.

Broughton

Narrow Margin: (Bruce Broughton) Among the better forgotten thrillers of the 1990's was Narrow Margin, a tale of witness protection from director Peter Hyams. Gene Hackman's deputy district attorney is assigned to protect book editor Anne Archer, who is the only witness of a mob assassination, from the wilderness of Canada back to Los Angeles to testify. The film rented an entire train for the majority of its running time, with the rail trek through British Columbia taking several suspenseful turns as killers from the mob have infiltrated the voyage. For train enthusiasts, this film ranks up there with Under Siege 2: Dark Territory as an exciting modern thriller, although Narrow Margin has the distinct advantage of featuring two outstanding actors in their prime. Hyams has been made notorious for his difficult relationships with members of his crew, and notably with his composers. Having worked with Jerry Goldsmith early in his career and then with half a dozen composers since, it is no surprise that there is no consistent composer for the majority of his films. Having scored four of Hyams' films, Bruce Broughton is the most frequent name on that list, with entries spanning the late 1980's and early 1990's. Broughton tackled Narrow Margin with a warranted sense of aggression and gritty edges, providing one the most frenetic action scores of his career. Assembling a diverse range of orchestral performers, Broughton's composition is lively and robust, with a consistent level of activity to accompany the film's non-stop suspense from start to finish. Unfortunately for Broughton, the lesson of Hyams' sometimes deranged thinking was not yet learned, and his score for Narrow Margin would suffer from repeated requests for re-scoring, and even after such work was finished, the score was chopped into pieces by the time it was heard in the cinemas.

	Learn about supporting Filmtracks

Rather than providing a distinct theme for any of the film's characters, Broughton offers a series of four notes that is really only heard in full in the opening and closing titles, with mutated inclusions throughout the score's contents. On the other hand, an alternating piano motif of 16 notes serves as the score's true identity, fitting more gracefully into more subtle places and translating well in wild string and brass performances. Those rambunctious action sequences are highlighted by "Chopper Chase" (before the train enters the film) and "Nelson, Then Katherine" (the finale action scene), both of which exploding with raw, rhythmic energy and both of which, ironically, re-scored and then butchered in the final cut by Hyams. The director reportedly preferred the more jarring effect of single blasts from the full ensemble --adding accent to each glimpse of a bad guy or other scary element-- rather than allowing Broughton's music to simply establish an overall mood with a consistent rhythm. To his credit Hyams may have recognized that Broughton used an effective technique with his orchestral blasts in Narrow Margin, one in which only the lowest and highest ranges of the orchestra produced the sound (omitting the middle ranges... sort of like a shriek of good and evil at once). But Hyams was dead wrong on the quality of Broughton's original cues. As it was originally written, the Narrow Margin score is among Broughton's strongest works. But with both original and alternate cues cut, moved, and/or deleted, Broughton was best to try to forget about the project and move on; one cannot hear the best result of his work by watching the film. As the 14th installment in Intrada Records' "Special Collection," Narrow Margin is presented with both original and alternate cues for the listeners to judge. The sound quality is so clear that you can even hear the nearly inaudible, whispering strings at the start of the titles and alternate end credits. The album is highly recommended to suspense enthusiasts, especially with the possibility of the 1,500 copy run of the CD selling out like other recent Intrada specialties.   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Music as Heard in Film: **
Music as Heard on Album: ****
Overall: ***

Bias Check:

For Bruce Broughton reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.3 (in 10 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.35 (in 3,553 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.