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Review of The Bone Collector (Craig Armstrong)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you like your scores for urban thrillers to feature an intelligent, edgy blend of orchestral power, choral beauty, and a sophisticated industrial edge.

Avoid it... if you've never been impressed by the general style of Craig Armstrong's scores, for The Bone Collector is among the most typical of his career in terms of instrumental and rhythmic style.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

The Bone Collector: (Craig Armstrong) In an odd combination between Seven and Rear Window, The Bone Collector is a police thriller starring Denzel Washington as a paralyzed but brilliant detective who, engaged in a cat and mouse game with a psychotic killer in New York City, uses the eyes and ears of a surprisingly believable Angelina Jolie in the role of a younger, reluctant investigator in the field. Director Phillip Noyce didn't shy away from showing grotesque crime scenes in the film, and the gore left behind by the killer solicited the film's comparisons with Seven. Arguably, however, The Bone Collector is a more intelligent battle between good and evil, despite the film's occasionally obnoxious plot holes. The production was mainstream America's introduction to Scottish composer Craig Armstrong, whose training and early career had consisted of an odd combination of commissioned classical writing and arrangements for popular rock stars. This background has defined Armstrong's accomplished, though likely under-appreciated career with a distinct character to his music, a character that smartly balances the orchestral, choral, and electronic. Of the works in the composer's first ten years of film scoring, perhaps no soundtrack exemplifies his sound as well as The Bone Collector, which takes the electronics of Plunkett and Macleane and merges them with the later elements of the choir in World Trade Center and the grim orchestral shades in Moulin Rouge. The score was a striking introduction of Armstrong to the film music collecting world, though listeners had likely heard the "Escape" cue from Plunkett and Macleane in several trailers and television promotional spots already. For fans of that particular popular cue, The Bone Collector extends that general idea to greater lengths, though without the over-bearing melodramatic attitude. This score is instead all business, mirroring the cold and serious atmosphere with a sound that contains the ingredients of a warmer effort but never attempts to make an appeal at the personal level.

The weighty tone of Armstrong's score makes more of an impact than any of the thematic material. Morbidly dramatic in parts and starkly industrial in others, the score dwells in the bass region and broods with a keen sense of gravity. The eight-note title theme isn't as memorable as the force with which it is stated in the two "New York City" tracks. The first of these infuses the piano-led orchestra with an electronic rhythm very typical to Armstrong's career in a mix as satisfying as that of the theme to The Quiet American. The combination of drum pads, whining strings, and extremely low piano strikes is pure Armstrong at his most powerful, and this melody would heavily influence the remainder of the score. Allowing the piano to lead the performance in every case allows the instrument to maintain consistency in the more suspenseful, fragmented renditions throughout the work. Before the theme is provided a somewhat overblown statement in "Pier Pressure," it is altered slightly for two sub-themes that never take off. Both the theme for Jolie's character and the bonding theme between her and Washington's character never truly establish themselves, relying upon twisted variations of the title theme for their structures. The lack of development in the thematic identity is definitely the weakness of the music for The Bone Collector, but Armstrong compensates with the larger attitude of forceful determination that gives the score a its unnerving sound. The only cue to break up the flow is "Mackenzie," which turns almost exclusively to the electronic textures. On the whole, though, Armstrong's ability to give a mostly orchestral score a sophisticated industrial edge is the most interesting aspect of The Bone Collector. For fans of the composer looking for more of the outward choral beauty heard in World Trade Center and beyond, the cue "The City Awakes" is a solemn operatic piece. The mix of the percussion needs praise; from tapping wood effects in "Working the Evidence" to the timpani at the outset of "Seizure" and the awesome snare rips late in "Taxi Ride," their wet mix is resounding. The score is ultimately a refreshingly unique and tasteful way of approaching the urban thriller genre.  ****

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 50:16

• 1. New York City (2:56) • 2. Prelude (4:32) • 3. Taxi Ride (1:31) • 4. Amelia's Song (3:23) • 5. Race Against Time (2:27) • 6. Walking the Grid (2:31) • 7. Working the Evidence (2:04) • 8. Seizure (2:23)

• 9. Rhyme and Amelia's Love Theme (3:00) • 10. Mackenzie (3:50) • 11. Amelia's Crisis (4:13) • 12. Pier Pressure (5:07) • 13. Underground (2:29) • 14. Final Confrontation (4:02) • 15. The City Awakes (2:48) • 16. New York City (Orchestral Version) (2:52)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes extensive production credits, but no extra information about the score or film.

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