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Composed and Produced by:
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Mark Isham
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Orchestrated and Conducted by:
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Ken Kugler
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Release Date:
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January 11th, 2005
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you've been waiting like most film score collectors to
hear Mark Isham return to the outstanding, broad Americana strokes of Fly
Away Home.
Avoid it... if any dose of sugar-coated orchestral adventure fits too
sentimental a mold for your liking.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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| | Isham | |
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Racing Stripes: (Mark Isham) Without DVD players in
SUVs and films like Racing Stripes in the theatres, how would adults
seriously manage to keep their obnoxious children under control these days?
Starting with Babe and National Velvet, a long list of films
of this sort could be mentioned, with Racing Stripes taking the well
worn, standardized plot line of "orphaned animal meets other talking
barnyard creatures and proves itself in competition that redeems its species
as well as the heartland family that raised it." The animals in the film are
indeed real, and Hollywood gets another opportunity to confuse adults who
see the CGI lips of the animals flail around without corresponding facial
expressions that you've come to expect from looking at talking humans.
Perhaps if the zebra that fancies itself as a racehorse was for some reason
shot at the end --another familiar animal movie ending-- there would be
something compelling about the film. The great news for movie-goers who
enjoy Racing Stripes is that composer Mark Isham doesn't seem to care
about any of these cliches or yawn-inducing dialogue. The project marks a
triumphant return to the genre of "child helps animal" that remains the
subject of Isham's most famous (and commercially unreleased) score, Fly
Away Home. Wandering throughout various genres in his career, Isham is
an interesting study because he is capable of writing stirring music for
Americana at its finest while also being capable of writing extremely
mundane and underachieving music for less wholesome genres. Without a doubt,
though, Racing Stripes is Mark Isham at his best, with sensibility
and inspiration without and overdose of sentimentality. A fully orchestral
score, Isham infuses the work with just enough instrumental and vocal
flavour to keep you listening, with a few of those rhythmic orchestral
outbursts that made Fly Away Home a cult favorite.
While one of Isham's themes is incorporated into the
opening song performed by Sting, the vocal doesn't do Isham's idea justice.
The fully orchestral statements of the primary theme, often accompanied by
rambling snare, pounding timpani, and crashing cymbals are victorious in an
innocent but highly satisfying manner. Simplistic in structure, the themes
rely on their intrinsic warmth and pleasant balance of instruments to convey
their good intentions. Remarkably, Isham avoids the extra sugar-coating that
you expect to hear around every corner. In its more subtle moments,
Racing Stripes offers two interesting ideas: first, a bluegrass
representation of the Kentucky setting (led by slide guitar, jaw harp, and
banjo) and secondly, an African influence in vocals and percussion that
offers the zebra its distinction of heritage. The moments with the banjo may
seem hokey at first, but their absence in the second half of the score is
noted with disappointment. The African vocals (with solo voice over choir)
are the best twist in the music, heard at a distance throughout the score in
moments of aspiration and dreams. An underlying percussion joins the vocals
in the triumphant moment of victory for the zebra in the big race at the end
of the film. Perhaps --and this is just off-hand speculation-- an intriguing
aspect of the African vocals is their potential racial implications,
representing the black athlete in a white-dominated sport... It would be
interesting to hear if Isham had any thoughts about this during his creation
process. The giant, adventuresome race cue at the end features quick blasts
of brass that will remind you of James Horner's The Rocketeer.
Another positive attribute of Isham's Racing Stripes is the avoidance
of weaker, slapstick comedy moments. The comedy relief is restrained mostly
to the mobster/faux-Italian representations of the talking pelican (yes, a
mobster type) in "A Pelican Named Goose" and "Goose Makes a Hit on the Iron
Horse." The score's consistently solid performances from start to finish
make Racing Stripes a very pleasant and surprising equal to Fly
Away Home, perhaps even eclipsing the predecessor on album. The album
contains two songs by Sting and Bryan Adams as well as a generous portion of
Isham's score. Setting aside any bias towards the film and its genre,
Racing Stripes is an unexpectedly rousing opening to the 2005 score
season. *****
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Taking the Inside Rail - performed by Sting (4:16)
• 2. It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (4:05)
• 3. At Home on Walsh Farm (5:01)
• 4. I'm a Racehorse! (2:51)
• 5. The Blue Moon Races (3:39)
• 6. A Pelican Named Goose (1:19)
• 7. Tucker Lays It Out! (2:25)
• 8. Goose Makes a Hit on the Iron Horse (2:10)
• 9. Run Like the Wind (2:04)
• 10. Twilight Run (2:27)
• 11. Upstaged by a Zebra (2:46)
• 12. A Brave Decision (1:48)
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• 13. Glory Days (3:18)
• 14. If You Build It, They Will Come (2:21)
• 15. Out of Africa (1:06)
• 16. Spring Training (2:31)
• 17. Ambushed! (4:48)
• 18. Filly in Distress (1:05)
• 19. Race Day (1:03)
• 20. They're All In! (1:12)
• 21. The Big Race (7:19)
• 22. In the Winner's Circle (1:54)
• 23. It Ain't Over Yet - performed by Bryan Adams (3:18)
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Insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
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