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U.S. Marshals: (Jerry Goldsmith) After the critical
and popular success of
The Fugitive several years earlier, it was
disappointing but not surprising that producer Arnold Kopelson would
yank the fiscal chain for a watered down sequel. Returning for
U.S.
Marshals in 1998 was U.S. Marshal Sam Girard, with Tommy Lee Jones
reprising the role that won him an Academy Award for the original. Most
of the plot elements in the sequel were simple re-writes and
manipulations of the same storyline of
The Fugitive. Girard
chases another protagonist, fleeing from a spectacular crash and trying
all the while to prove his innocence while on the run. Even if Wesley
Snipes hadn't diluted the talent pool of the film with his non-existent
performance, the insertion of traitor Robert Downey Jr. (who'd a thunk
it?) sealed the deal. The film is one chase scene after another, and
sadly few of those scenes can rival the tension and intelligence of
similar situations in
The Fugitive. Audiences didn't seem to care
much about the sequel, easily identifying the project's intent as a
profit machine rather than high art. An almost all-new crew for
U.S.
Marshals included a change in composer; James Newton Howard was
nominated for an Oscar for the original film's score, which was somewhat
of an oddity given that it's nowhere near the top ranks of his own
career. But to delight of many, new director Stuart Baird would reunite
with the legendary Jerry Goldsmith for the sequel. Their combined effort
for the 1996 action flick
Executive Decision was competent in sum
and contained some enjoyable parts. For
U.S. Marshals they would
understandably abandon Howard's themes and approach, opting for a
trademark Goldsmith action score. One of the interesting aspects of
Goldsmith's work for this project is his attempt, whether instructed to
do so or not, to combine the style of his 90's action music with some of
the style from his similar 70's and 80's assignments. There are pieces
from all over Goldsmith's career to be heard in
U.S. Marshals,
but unfortunately the merging of those styles here does not live up to
expectations.
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Perhaps from a technical standpoint,
U.S.
Marshals is more than just an average regurgitation of Goldsmith's
1990's action sounds. His staggered rhythms, very low range piano, and
percussive ripping and tearing is a reminder of the more brazen,
relentless attitude from themes for films like
Capricorn One.
Accompanying these sometimes odd reinventions are a plethora of
Goldsmith's action techniques of the 90's, especially in his handling of
brass and theme. There is a significant contribution by synthesizers in
U.S. Marshals, mirroring the composer's usage of electronics in
his last three
Star Trek scores. This last point gives
U.S.
Marshals several relative similarities to the composer's
just-completed
Deep Rising, a score that has more funk and guilty
pleasure than
U.S. Marshals, but suffers from the same lack of
genuine personality. The anonymity of Goldsmith's music for
U.S.
Marshals is precisely the problem; it's a pedestrian score so
consistent and predictable in its final recording that it once again
conveys a sense of a master composer on auto-pilot... a habit that
Goldsmith was annoyingly making in the mid-90's. A bland motif for the
film is eventually revealed to be a full-blown theme; Goldsmith uses a
pair of five-note motifs at home in any of the
Star Trek scores
or
Air Force One and performs them with persistent medium-range
brass throughout the score, altering a note or two in the string to
maintain slight variations for different situations. Only in "Free to
Go" does Goldsmith reveal with the entire ensemble that this motif is
actually part of a larger theme, albeit a simplistic one. This final
fully symphonic track, finally allowing the strings a useful
contribution, is worthy of compilations but not of the price of the
30-minute album. For such a derivative score, there are surprisingly few
direct and precise references to be made to other efforts. One notable
connection is the introduction of a foundation early in "The Front Gate"
that would become the villain's theme in
Star Trek: Nemesis. This
is a score begging for some discerning instrumental creativity,
something to elevate it beyond the norm. Perhaps a fresh set of
synthetic rambling sounds mixed with a greater gain could have saved
U.S. Marshals. As it is, the score is unsatisfyingly dull.
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| Bias Check: | For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.26 (in 113 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.32
(in 133,462 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
