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FILMTRACKS.COM
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Review of Calendar Girls (Patrick Doyle)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... only if you are an avid Patrick Doyle collector and want
to hear the composer work his magic on a smaller scale of comedic and
upbeat attitude.
Avoid it... if you prefer your Doyle scores to be spectacular, orchestrally deep, and lengthier in their running times.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Calendar Girls: (Patrick Doyle) Imagine how the
calendar and the film would have been different had it not been for all
of those tastefully placed flower arrangements! The Nigel Cole film of
2003, Calendar Girls, based on the real life story of a Women's
Institute gang of gals over 40 posing nude for a calendar to raise money
for a local hospital, is a feel-good story produced by Touchstone/Buena
Vista (indeed, the Disney folks), so everyone knew it would be
innocuous. Perhaps its predictable level of fluffiness kept many
visitors away from the theatre for this one, although the film did
relatively well in international mainstream venues. After circulating
around European cinemas for most of the latter half of 2003, the film
opened in limited areas initially in the United States just before the
cutoff for Academy Awards consideration. The cast of elegant British
actresses of appropriate age holds the project together with snazzy
one-liners and an abundance of heart that was last seen, ironically, in
The Full Monty, although it should be noted that Calendar
Girls is a much more tame endeavor. The filmmakers, naturally, kept
the production in the sphere of British talent, hiring Patrick Doyle to
write an upbeat score that is, as the composer remarked at the time,
"modern and not too flowery or pastoral." Like The Full Monty,
much of personality of the film is established through the use of softer
or comedic rock songs, often with a jazzy tilt and coming from the era
of the women's youth. Doyle's score would balance the need for source
cues, jazzy rhythms, and a fair amount of basic symphonic cues for the
more serious aspects of the story. He would do this at roughly the same
time as he wrote Secondhand Lions, a score of heftier melodrama
for a film about male bonding (as opposed to Calendar Girls,
which is purely the opposite in gender). The result of Doyle's efforts
for Calendar Girls is far less spectacular than Secondhand
Lions, especially on album, but the music serves its purpose fairly
well enough and, in many ways, is a more entertaining listening
experience. It's difficult to find much fault with a score as upbeat in
its personality as this, although its short length is
disappointing.
The score generates a considerable share of the comedy environment in the film, prancing with lightly orchestral rhythms that tip-toe to great ensemble conclusions in such lively cues as "Fantastic Tits" and "Bra's Off." Doyle very well hits the mark in terms of style, balancing between the dancing nature of the excitement and comedy in these cues while utilizing the piano, strings, and metallic percussion in such a way as to convey a sense of pride and elegance of stature that the women demand at their age. The piano, performed by Brian Gascoigne, is at center stage in the score, propelling the rest of the ensemble with its rumbling, low rhythms and contemporary style. The moments of comedy in the score are its finest, with elements of Doyle's usual, pleasant harmonies around every turn, even when moving at full speed. The spirited demeanor of the work reminds of Doyle's little known Blow Dry. The symphonic cues of weightier accompaniment, in which a few more strings and limited brass join the recording, are restrained throughout most of the score by a need to remain tastefully underplayed. The full ensemble does shine in "One More Hour," though, with horn solos leading to a trademark James Horner rumble of the orchestra led by piano. The performance of Doyle's title theme from the film's song ("I Find Your Love") in this cue is a highlight. The sincerity of the piano performances throughout the score roots the music in an elegance that a composer like Randy Edelman often fails to accomplish, and thus, Doyle succeeds admirably in Calendar Girls. On album, Hollywood Records released two different versions of the music from the film (depending upon which side of the pond you reside). Both offer roughly the same amount of Doyle's material, but the American version features an extra Doyle source cue and an additional song at the end. Both albums include four to five rock and jazz songs from yesteryear at the end, and both also begin with the Doyle-written song "I Find Your Love" (with the composer's main theme performed by the crystal-clear Beth Nielsen Chapman), which easily outshines the remainder of the album and unfortunately was not used in the film. For Doyle collectors, the twenty minutes of score material may or may not be worth the purchase, and you'd be best to wait until you see it in used form as to not disappoint yourself with its brevity. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
European Album:
Total Time: 29:11
American Album: Total Time: 34:12
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
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