Buy it... if you seek a safe, though unspectacular score that remains very reminiscent of Rachel Portman's light drama and comedy works of the 1990's.

Avoid it... if you have clearly established your impatience with Portman's trademark formulas of the era.

Portman

Used People: (Rachel Portman) A tear-jerking drama set in the late 1960's, Used People features the story of a widow being romanced by a man who would have been her suitor earlier in life if not for ethnic differences. The lovable, sensible tale featured a star-studded cast (with no less than four Academy Award-winning actresses) and placed them under the elegant lights of New York City. This setting offered the opportunity for the music of the film to reflect both the jazzy ambience of the big city in a more innocent time, as well as the romantic instrumentation associated with any plotline to emerge from of the genre. The ethnic differences also required an inherent touch of flair in the music, being, after all, that Italians in New York are often loud and outrageous in their most affable character traits. A certain amount of youthful, vigorous energy also inhabits the film and score, extending the idea that people are never too old to woo one another and have a good time. Before bursting into mainstream American attention with The Joy Luck Club in 1993, Rachel Portman had already established herself as rising star in the composing industry. By the time she continued her collaboration with director Beeban Kidron for a third time with Used People, Portman had already received numerous award nominations and wins in Europe, including an encouraging award out of the U.K. announcing her as the best new composer of the 1980's. Portman's partnership with Kidron would continue after Used People, but this 1992 score marked one of Portman's first large-scale projects for which recognition of her name would be established in America. Critics of Portman's consistent mannerisms of the 1990's state that the composer is simply a one-dimensional artist, capable of only producing one style of sound. If you accept that as true, and you'd have quite a few angry Portman fans debating that point, then Used People is a refreshing glimpse of that style before it was well known and rehashed in several subsequent pictures.

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The music put on display by Portman in Used People is very much a preview of where she would be headed in future years. The title theme does not have the same deep, resounding swell that many of her fans would become accustomed to, but her harmonic, richly simplistic base is intact. There is more of a mournful attitude to Used People, because the film deals with serious issues of mortality as well, so Portman never unleashes her typically unrestricted, positive attitude in this work. The score opens with an elegant, but melancholy horn solo above her usual, easy chord progressions, representing the big city and the sadness and loneliness it often possesses. Other sections explode with Portman's comedy rhythms, with tumbling horns performing rhythms of a pleasant, though slightly silly nature. Portman's ability to concoct rowdy, orchestral ruckus is put to work here, and this comedy writing is very similar to what her fans would hear from the composer later on, making it the most expendable part of this particular score. The essence of the old time jazz beat, while trying to poke its head out and assert itself at several points, adds only a minimal flavor to the score, though. A few delightful, lyrical passages appear hidden throughout the work, such as in "Let me Cook You Dinner," and these woodwind driven sections offer the bulk of the most listenable sections of Used People. The score's emotional heart is centered on one spectacularly disparate cue; "The Grave" briefly drops the upbeat piano meanderings and lays on a heavy dose of melodramatic strings. With this dark cue offering the only powerful, gripping music in the score, Used People remains much more of a featherweight in its sensibilities. The score concludes itself nicely with Portman's typical, slowly formulated finale and the album provides 40 minutes very accessible and dramatic romance music. The Frank Sinatra song in the middle of the album, while a logical choice, unfortunately breaks up the flow of the score. The album is now out of print, but can be found for decent prices in online auctions. Portman fans should consider Used People as a safe, though unspectacular purchase. ***   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

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For Rachel Portman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.26 (in 28 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.23 (in 25,299 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.