Buy it... only if you seek the competent and rousing selection of standard jazz pieces from the 1950's, for the introverted and reflective underscore by Gabriel Yared is largely overwhelmed by that surrounding material.

Avoid it... if you expect the score to trend towards Yared's work for Message in a Bottle or City of Angels rather than reprising the chilly atmosphere of The English Patient.

Yared

The Talented Mr. Ripley: (Gabriel Yared) Director Anthony Minghella, an industry favorite at the time after his Oscar win for 1996's The English Patient, made several alterations to the story in Patricia Highsmith's novel to make music an integral part of the narrative. An all-star cast is placed in the setting of 1950's Italy, caught up in experiencing the good life defined by women, jazz, and alcohol. Jealousy eventually turns a rather straightforward story into one of character crisis, and the title character is the subject of much transformation over the course of the story. Minghella's strong collaboration with Gabriel Yared, who also won an Oscar for The English Patient, led to the composer's involvement in the picture from early pre-production planning. Like The English Patient, the story of The Talented Mr. Ripley required significant amounts of source music, and the 50's jazz integral to American society makes the journey to Italy for the purposes of the altered story. Perhaps due to the obvious role of the jazz in the film, voters granted Yared more Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for The Talented Mr. Ripley. This despite Yared's relatively minimal contribution to the film in relation to the jazz; this ratio is extended to the album for the film, on which Yared's score exists as only a series of token instrumental tracks in between the far more spirited jazz. On an album of over an hour in length, only about twenty-five minutes of Yared's music appears, and it is spread mysteriously out of sequence throughout the product. The score material stands far apart from the jazzy songs of the era, and the two wrestle the album back and forth between them with several awkward transitions in the process. Yared's portion represents the turbulent and unsettling mood of Ripley's character disintegration with fast and furious high points and shrouded, sinister lows. So chilly is its tone that it could not be any more different than the impressively engaging, romantic music that Yared had just provided in 1999 for Message in a Bottle. Despite Minghella's usual raves about Yared's roll in the production (the two, in fact, collaborated on one of the score's two main themes), Yared's contribution is not worth any special consideration.

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The score is introverted and reflective, making use of a full orchestra without utilizing any obvious or outward statements of theme. Two thematic ideas exist for Ripley's somewhat aimless character. The first is a slightly curious, Arabic-tilted piece that is explored in "Crazy Tom" and "Ripley," while the second is a child-like lullaby heard on cello in "Syncopes" and performed vocally by Sinead O'Connor in the lovely and gripping "Lullaby for Cain." Representing the turmoil within Ripley and his dissatisfaction with his identity, O'Connor's voice is both innocent enough to capture Ripley's childhood fantasies and rough enough at the corners to adequately portray Ripley's darker inclinations. Another impressive element of the score is Yared's incorporation of the saxophone, which plays an equally important role in the film, into many of the contemplative cues in which he would otherwise normally insert his standard set of woodwinds. The first theme for Ripley is adapted in romantic form for "Italia," which is the score's only true indication of its location. In the end, however, these soft orchestral cues require close attention for full appreciation, and the emphasis on this album has clearly been placed on the jazz songs instead of the score. The monaural bounciness of many of these classic pieces is so contrary in style to Yared's material that they are nearly intolerable. Had the lengthy tracks by the Guy Barker International Quintet and others been condensed into one section of the album, perhaps the score could be more easily appreciated for its subtleties. The most unfortunate turn in the album comes between "Crazy Tom" and Charlie Parker's "Ko-Ko;" the first of which is a Yared cue that features a strongly vibrant twist of the string section (a la Bernard Herrmann), only to be followed by perhaps the most upbeat jazz piece on the product. Overall, the album only offers a few score cues that could be considered for a Yared compilation. The lullaby is hauntingly effective, and its manifestations throughout the album are easily the highlight of the listening experience. Yared's other ideas aren't coherent enough to really matter. Even if you enjoy the swinging jazz that played such a crucial role in the film, the disjointed placement of tracks on the album causes those performances to swallow up Yared's tightly-wound and internally focused score. The album's success certainly had the jazz (and not the score) to thank. ***   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

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For Gabriel Yared reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.11 (in 10 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.29 (in 17,992 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.