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Simpatico: (Stewart Copeland) Adapted from a play
by Sam Shepard,
Simpatico is a convoluted portrait of four
characters and the lengths to which their backgrounds force them into
unsavory relations. Spanning the concepts of revenge, money, crime, and
horse breeding,
Simpatico is an extremely unsatisfactory film,
irritating to both critics and audiences, and not even the performances
by a top notch ensemble of performers could make you care about the
tragic circumstances unfolding on screen. It is rare that a film
essentially about blackmail can leave viewers so cold about every
character involved, and it is this lack of engagement that caused the
ironically unlikable
Simpatico a hasty arthouse death. For a
story of such disillusionment, the assignment of Stewart Copeland to
score the movie was a frightfully appropriate one. Working on a number
of eclectic scoring projects since branching out from the rock band "The
Police" in the 1980's, Copeland's scores of the 1990's were very
consistent in their low-budget, acoustical appeal. As a legendary
percussionist, Copeland specializes in using electronic rhythms and
guitars (acoustic and electric) for most of his film scores. Over the
years, his scores haven't varied much in style, perhaps speaking to an
intrinsic lack of training in the realm of film scoring, and the best he
seems to muster to differentiate them is an alteration of their moods.
Such is the case with
Simpatico, which takes a twisted, dark spin
on Copeland's usual singular ensemble for a tense thriller of a score
that barely registers for much of its length. Accomplishing the right
alienating mood is what the music for
Simpatico achieves beyond
all else. Desolate, disturbed, and sparsely constructed, Copeland's
small-scale electronics create a very effective, disjointed atmosphere
for the film.
Without a break, the score for
Simpatico softly
weaves its way through minor-keyed shades of gray with intermittent
rhythms and elongated synthesizer effects. Occasionally, a searing
electric guitar will distinguish scenes, while other more simplistic,
softer acoustic guitar motifs roll along in the background. Bass heavy
rhythms with echoing percussive samples provide a limited soundscape
that nevertheless creates an eerie and unsettling listening experience.
The few moments that will capture your interest will be those that vary
the instrumental palette; In "Bad Sex" and "Shoot Simpatico," Copeland
provides a spooky blowing noise that whispers across your speakers. In
the former track, and elsewhere early in the score, a faint series of
female vocals goes underutilized. The blowing sounds are keenly
manipulated to mimic the distant cries of a police siren as well. The
highlight of the score is "Rosie to the Race," which opens with the vocal
motif and introduces a minor-key alternation of sampled strings that is
used throughout the score as a suspense motif. Thematically, the score
explores some country stylings in the opening cue, but the fragments of
those ideas aren't well collected in the remainder of the score. On the
whole, the score isn't complex enough to maintain interest in it for
long periods of time. And, conversely, its attitude is just too defiant
in its sparse statements by guitar to be an easy listening experience,
either. The disturbing demeanor will likely have an audience, but even
with the proper mood,
Simpatico doesn't offer enough creativity
to suffice as stand-alone entertainment. The hazy atmosphere of the
score carries over to the first song at the end of the album, and though
it suffers from sloppy vocals, it's at least more appropriate than the
second one, which is far too upbeat for the album to support. With only
25 minutes of score on that album, it will be difficult to find many
buyers for the product. Avid collectors of Copeland's immensely
percussive works may find some merit in it.
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The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
