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The Bucket List
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Composed and Produced by:
Conducted by:
Pete Anthony
Orchestrated by:
Jeff Atmajian
Performed by:
The Hollywood Studio Symphony
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LABEL & RELEASE DATE
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ALBUM AVAILABILITY
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Regular U.S. release. Warner Brothers released a "for your
consideration" promo of 24 minutes of Shaiman's score (along with John Mayer's
song, "Say") to awards voters in December of 2007. This album has no titles
for its ten score tracks and features a generic white studio promo cover.
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AWARDS
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None.
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ALSO SEE
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Buy it... if you appreciate the personality of both Marc Shaiman
and his music, because this compilation album is a tribute to his
heartfelt sensibilities, remarkable performance abilities, and enduring
sense of humor.
Avoid it... if you expect the score for The Bucket List
alone to carry the weight of this album, because it's tastefully
restrained but underwhelming music that cannot compete with the depth of
Shaiman's better scores.
BUY IT
 | | Shaiman |
The Bucket List: (Marc Shaiman) The star power of
Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman was too attractive for mediocre
critical response to dampen audience enthusiasm over Rob Reiner's late
2007 comedy The Bucket List. Although lacking in its realistic
depiction of those who struggle with terminal cancer, the film was
charming enough to turn its $45 million budget into over $170 million
at the box office, testimony to the appeal of especially Nicholson in
his years of semi-retirement. The leads play men diagnosed with cancer
severe enough to kill them within months, and they befriend in the
hospital despite coming from completely different socio-economic
backgrounds. The auto mechanic played by Freeman is eventually adopted
(in a way) by Nicholson's wealthy executive, and when the former creates
a list of activities he wishes experience before he dies, the latter
latches on to the idea and decides to bankroll trips around the world
and other fun excursions. They become close enough to confide in each
other their major failings in life, and through their few short months
together, they manage to repair the strained familial relationships that
haunted them. A redemptive tear-jerking conclusion is the norm for such
films, and Reiner doesn't disappoint with The Bucket List. The
director has always been fond of composer Marc Shaiman, going back to
the early 1990's when Reiner gave the composer his first big break.
Shaiman, after accumulating five Oscar nominations in the subsequent
decade, became one of many primarily song writers and
arrangers-turned-composers to grow weary of the studio system and its
effects on music in film. He suffered several setbacks in the 2000's,
mostly related to rejected scores or assignments cut short, and he has
not been quiet about his discontent with the modern industry of film
music (including gut-bustingly funny jabs at the Hans Zimmer clone
factory). Fortunately, the incredible humor that has always defined
Shaiman's personality has allowed his criticism to transcend the usual
haze of malcontent complaints and he redirected his career with great
success when focusing his efforts in the 2000's on the Broadway musical
adaptation of Hairspray (and the subsequent translation of that
concept back onto screen). Many will argue that Shaiman is most at home
in the environment of song writing, and winning a Tony Award for his
efforts for the stage seems more satisfying in many ways that an Oscar
win would have been for him. Still, those dispirited by Shaiman's
absence from the big screen were heartened to see that Reiner returned
to the composer for a predictably saccharine score for The Bucket
List.
There's nothing revolutionary to be heard in Shaiman's
output for The Bucket List. It's a lovely little jazz and light
drama score for soloists over tasteful orchestral recordings consisting
primarily of strings but also occasionally utilizing subtle woodwinds
and brass. Acoustic guitar, trumpet, harp, and saxophone are the usual
suspects, though it's the piano performances that really earn this score
its stars. Thematically, Shaiman doesn't allow the music to overflow
with emotional gravity in a way someone like Rachel Portman might allow,
instead exercising restraint even at the film's most melancholy or
redemptive moments. The primary thematic identity wafts through the room
with remarkable ease, exhibiting the heart that Shaiman's more dramatic
scores exude without ever relying upon volume to jerk those tears from
the audience. As such, the victory of experience and human bonding is a
tad bittersweet in The Bucket List, on album developing into a
listening experience much like the sequences in between the major
ensemble performances in Shaiman's deservingly popular The American
President. Only a few source cues in the middle of the score break
up the flow of a presentation that gains traction as it approaches its
final cues. The "End Credits" track contains the most well-rounded
arrangement of the score's ideas, performed by trumpet and piano over an
orchestral ensemble that finally makes clear use of woodwind and brass
elements for depth and/or noble counterpoint. Ironically, this cue was
replaced on screen by John Mayer's "Say," a song unfortunately not
included on the soundtrack album. On the whole, The Bucket List
is a decent, innocuous, and short score that couldn't sustain an album
on its own, so Varèse Sarabande worked with Shaiman to include
piano renditions of some of the composer's most famous themes for the
latter half of the product. Shaiman often creates lyrics for the themes
of his scores (some of which hilarious) and the one from The American
President is turned into a pretty choral and piano tribute to, of
all things, farming. Shaiman's ability to so precisely perform difficult
ideas from City Slickers and The Addams Family with
outstanding emphasis is remarkable, making his contributions with
ensemble for The Bucket List (a first for the composer) seem like
child's play. His synthesizer and vocal performance of John Barry's
Goldfinger theme is pure Shaiman at his best, yielding just one
of his many funny commentaries about the industry. Finally, this review
can't conclude without a special mention of agent Richard Kraft's
lengthy and equally entertaining note (in the CD's insert) about working
with Shaiman over all these years. Together, the entire package will
bring a smile to the face of anyone who appreciates Shaiman and his
music, despite the fact that The Bucket List by itself is
modestly mundane.
@Amazon.com: CD or
Download
- Music as Written for the Film: ***
- Music as Heard on the Compilation Album: ****
- Overall: ***
| Bias Check: |
For Marc Shaiman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.33
(in 12 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.17
(in 19,634 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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Total Time: 49:56
The Bucket List:
• 1. Hospital Hallway (0:49)
• 2. Like Smoke Through a Keyhole (1:59)
• 3. Best in L.A. (1:21)
• 4. Really Bad News (1:50)
• 5. La Vie en Rose (source) (2:26)
• 6. Hotel Source (1:14)
• 7. Did You Hear It? (2:24)
• 8. Flying Home (1:17)
• 9. Homecomings (3:29)
• 10. Life and Death (3:54)
• 11. The Mountain (2:22)
• 12. End Credits (3:54)
Memory Lane (Junk in My Trunk): (performed by Marc Shaiman)
• 13. A Seed of Grain (Theme from The American President) - co-performed by The Clurman Singers (3:10)
• 14. City Slickers (2:29)
• 15. Simon Birch (2:13)
• 16. The Addams Family (1:33)
• 17. Mother (1:07)
• 18. North (2:12)
• 19. A Wink and a Smile (from Sleepless in Seattle) (2:22)
• 20. Blame Canada (from South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut) (1:46)
• 21. Mr. Saturday Night (2:24)
• 22. Goldfinger (aka "Printmaster") - written by John Barry, Anthony Newley, and Leslie Bricusse (2:14)
• 23. What Makes a Family (Theme from Stuart Saves His Family) (1:29)
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The insert includes a wealth of information, including lyrics, a list of
performers, a note from the composer, and a lengthy, entertaining note about
Shaiman's career from agent Richard Kraft.
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