Buy it... if you appreciated the restrained but pretty and redemptive music in the film and wish to explore the extent of Carter Burwell's competent adaptation of 19th Century protestant hymns to make that authentic sound possible.

Avoid it... if you desire either Burwell's own distinct musical voice or an abundance of truly original material, because the composer only allows his normal mannerisms to inform the music on rare occasions and the vast majority of the score relies heavily upon the hymns.

Burwell

True Grit: (Carter Burwell) In their efforts to remake the 1969 film True Grit, the writer/producer/director team of Joel and Ethan Coen sought to follow a more faithful adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel of the same name, hesitant to alter any aspect of the story's perspective or narrative. Despite lingering resentment from John Wayne fans, the Coen Brothers' 2010 version of True Grit has been deemed a resounding success by both critics and audiences, propelling the picture to countless awards nominations early the following year. The tale is told through the eyes of a 14-year-old girl in the Old West who seeks to avenge the death of her father (and theft of his gold) at the hands of one of his hired men. She eventually teams up with a Texas Ranger and Deputy U.S. Marshal to find the gang of outlaws with which this wanted man rides. Bickering between the men yields an alliance strained but still ultimately driven by their duties, the older Marshal played by Jeff Bridges in the role that won Wayne his only Academy Award. The performance of the girl, and her character's narration throughout True Grit, is key to understanding the Coen Brothers' approach to the entire story, including its use of music. Because of her youth and the religious aspect of her upbringing, the film relies heavily upon this perspective to set a tone deemed better connected to that of the novel. The Coens originally intended to use religious hymn music as the sole source of soundtrack material for their adaptation, though during discussions with their trusted compositing collaborator, Carter Burwell, a mixture of original and source inspiration was eventually adopted. This film marks the 15th partnership between the Coen Brothers and Burwell, and at several times in the past, as in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the composer has been faced with the task of working around a healthy dose of songs and various traditional pieces in his assignments. For True Grit, he had a task that was arguably more difficult than in previous times, taking a collection of hymns that he helped to select for the picture (avoiding any of a particularly melodramatic personality) and manipulating them in a wide spectrum of ways to suit the narrative arc of the journey on screen.

Leading the protestant hymns chosen for True Grit is 1877's "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms", representing the girl throughout Burwell's score and gracing the end credits with Iris DeMent's 2004 performance of the tune. Other hymns represent various secondary characters and places, with very little original score existing outside of these references. While on the surface the two soundtracks may seem only connected by the prosperity of their concurrent releases, Burwell's efforts for True Grit and the challenges faced by Clint Mansell for Black Swan are intriguingly similar. Both scores ultimately succeed in the picture and are substantially popular, but whereas Mansell took the easier route of simply manipulating straight forward performances of Tchaikovsky's music from Swan Lake with disappointingly simplistic edits and overlays, Burwell has accomplished far better results in his method of heavily adapting these hymns to breathe new life into them for True Grit. His use of "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" is extremely compelling, nurturing it from solo piano at the start to fully orchestral depth in the middle before returning it as necessary back to its solitary state of peace. In "Little Blackie" and "Your Headstrong Ways," Burwell even explores upbeat and slightly mischievous statements of the tune, the latter briefly resurrecting the quirky spirit of Basil Poledouris' Quigley Down Under. In the score's most noble and bombastic action burst, boldly brash at the start of "One Against Four," Burwell even elevates the hymn to open brass glory. Several cues of lament and conversation reduce the theme to soft clarinet statements as well, keeping the idea fresh and frequent to solidify the musical identity. For Jeff Bridges' Marshal, Burwell uses the hymn "The Gloryland Way" with great results in "River Crossing" and "A Great Adventure." The arguably more attractive melody is remarkably fluid in its movements and better suits itself to traditional Western mannerisms in its orchestral representations of landscape travel and unfettered resolve. Don't be surprised if you find yourself returning to these two cues most frequently in the future. Several other hymns weave in and out of True Grit, but none with as much of an impact as the two above.

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For collectors of Burwell's music, the soundtrack does offer a few bits and pieces of the composer's own voice, both in subtle instrumental techniques and in a couple of the cues absent the hymns. Burwell has never gained much widespread popularity in part because of his tendency to explore broken chords and progressions of uniquely unconventional character. Not much of that style exists in True Grit, though the middle of "La Boeuf Takes Leave" contains a few familiar bars of Burwellesque writing. Those knowledgeable of his career will note that he can let rip with Western-styled action themes that are a bit easier to grasp, led by The Hi-Lo Country and, unexpectedly, Conspiracy Theory. While the presence of the hymns mostly eliminated the possibility of such music here, Burwell does seem to exaggerate a few synchronization points with outward melodrama, including extroverted explosions of activity in "Taken Hostage" and "The Snake Pit." Two cues also containing these somewhat bloated ensemble recordings are "A Turkey Shoot" and "Taken Hostage," both groaning in usual Burwell fashion but also exhibiting some exhilarating moments of brass and percussion. Overall, the soundtrack for True Grit is satisfying in its execution of what Burwell sought to accomplish for the Coen Brothers. Originality is minimal and the orchestra is not as large as most in major productions these days, but the composer's ability to wrestle these hymns into a variety of emotional appeals has to be commended. Specific moments of flair in the orchestrations, especially from brass, are also impressive. Film music collectors will likely be sent scurrying back to Elmer Bernstein's music for the 1969 film, and indeed Burwell's score is often less palatable as a standalone listening experience. The album for the 2010 film contains only Burwell's recordings and unfortunately not the end titles insertion of the existing performance of "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms." And there is not much score here to begin with (amounting to only 35 minutes), so be aware of all of these circumstances before you approach this album blindly. Additionally, remember to remind the public at large that this really isn't an original piece of work, but rather a very competent revision of traditional music by Burwell into the mould of a Western film score. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Carter Burwell reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.84 (in 19 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.76 (in 9,936 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.