Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #1,763
Written 12/22/16
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Buy it... if you desire ten minutes of moderately engaging Philip
Glass-like orchestral rhythms during the expression of the core
emotional highlights of this score.
Avoid it... if you expect Mark Isham's keenly precise constructs
for the protagonist to intelligently develop into openly clever musical
connectivity throughout an otherwise bland suspense environment.
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| Isham |
The Accountant: (Mark Isham) Serving as the revenge
flick for the autistic, 2016's The Accountant depicts a
mathematical genius whose rare dual backgrounds in accounting and
weaponry lead him to investigate criminal enterprise money laundering
and embezzling. Then, naturally, he assassinates the perpetrators as
necessary to protect himself and society. It's not a particularly
pleasant afternoon breeze, nor does it bolster much confidence in
corporate America, but it does supply some momentary satisfaction that
the "1%" that is screwing the working man in America can not only be
exposed for its financial misdeeds but executed for the transgression as
well. The film also allows character-actor favorites J.K. Simmons and
John Lithgow to chew on some choice dialogue. The titular character is
autistic, and the story embroils itself in a convoluted combination of
personality disorder theory, organized crime, and the man's own
dysfunctional family. There is sequel potential to be had with The
Accountant, and given how the film managed to overcome middling
reviews to achieve its own fiscal success, perhaps the main character
will tackle the dastardly Trump organization in a sequel. Director Gavin
O'Connor reunited with composer Mark Isham for the soundtrack needs of
The Accountant, and the director confessed to being at a loss
about how to musically address the various facets of the main
character's personality. Isham is no stranger to both murky mysteries
and violent thrillers, and he approached the project with an idea in
mind that ultimately proved to yield a conservatively predictable
result. When in doubt, he tends to understate the presence of his
material in a film's equation, choosing subtly and texture over outward
narrative development, and much of The Accountant is supplied a
score that is ambient and electronic by nature. Starting with a base of
synthesizers, some of which groaning old 1980's tones coming back to
life, he develops a hazy environment of dread while layering rhythmic
devices meant clearly to represent the character's mathematical mind. On
top of this foundation, he applies an electronic piano to handle the
limited range of emotions from the accountant. Finally, a sparse
orchestral presence lends some depth to the environment, though its
performances only really shine in a few highlight cues of breakout
rhythmic crescendos. Fortunately, Isham scales back the dissonance in
the soundscape in almost every cue, a logical choice to represent the
orderly mind of the protagonist.
The majority of Isham's material for
The
Accountant will pass you by without much excitement. Despite the
film's penchant for violence, there is very little actual thrill to the
music, the kills typically punctuated by a single synchronization point
in the music (in most cases, the striking, single blasts of a drum) and
devoid of much anticipation or relief on either side. The electronic
ambience is all boilerplate, and listeners should expect 80% of the
score to consist of very anonymous washes of largely tonal but not
really interesting noise in the background. Sound effects are sometimes
distracting in the mix, but there are enough easy-going string
backgrounds thrown in to compensate. It's a largely boring listening
experience outside of context whenever Isham isn't developing some of
the rhythmic material for the main character. Those identities don't
congeal into very satisfying thematic constructs, most of the structures
owing to a two-note phrase on key that plods along throughout the
majority of the work. There are a few deviations, however. For the
family side of the character, Isham adjoins with the English nursery
rhythm "Solomon Grundy," the mantra of the main character here, to yield
a solitary cello theme that struggles to get a foothold outside of the
two "Solomon Grundy"-related cues. The highlight of the score for many
will be "The Trial of Solomon Grundy," which takes a Philip Glass-like
minimally classical rhythmic approach to supplying the character with
some empathy. A choral effect in this cue helps, and it is reprised at
the conclusion of "The End of Solomon Grundy." Conversely, the
mathematical genius side of the character is offered precise staccato
rhythmic formations that exist in "Harbor Neuroscience" and "A Unique &
Remarkable Young Man" but really flourish in "The Accountant," Isham's
best attempt to merge Glass-like classicism with three pianos to emulate
James Horner's
A Beautiful Mind, a rather blatant point of
inspiration but another attraction in the score. Unfortunately, none of
the singular highlights is deconstructed well in the remainder of the
work, cues like "Justine" and "Brothers" badly disconnected from the
established identities despite being ripe for musical connectivity.
Overall, it's the poor narrative development that once again sinks an
Isham score, and while the music for
The Accountant does its job,
it is hard not to be left with the impression that there were countless
missed opportunities for a brilliant tapestry to be woven in this work.
The album for the product is terrible in that it offers absolutely no
crew attribution for the recording. Unless you seek the ten minutes of
fuller orchestral intrigue in this score, leave it to your accountant.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
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Bias Check:
For Mark Isham reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.84
(in 26 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.88
(in 9,975 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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