Before touching upon the problems of The Cider House Rules, it's important to recognize that Portman's music, despite whatever any complaints you may hear about it, is an absolutely perfect match for its film. Some of her work tends to be bloated in stature, especially when comedy is involved, but for The Cider House Rules she applies just the right amount of sugar to the mix. Structurally, everything in the score will be familiar to any listener knowledgeable about her works. Piano and woodwinds elegantly state the score's easily accessible theme while alternating strings set a very slight waltz-like rhythm underneath. For the four or five necessary crescendos of dramatic power in the story, Portman lays on the full string ensemble, creating a deeply resonating sense of gravity best captured by John Barry in the previous decade. Perpetually meandering piano counterpoint serves as another level of beauty to an already syrupy, major-key recipe for hope. The style of The Cider House Rules, despite the serious tone of some of the film's scenes, is almost always rooted in that optimism, with "Abortion" and "Dr. Larch Dies" the only slight twists into the minor-key realm. The stationary atmosphere of the score is both its greatest asset and, to detractors of the composer's style, its greatest weakness. The score's consistency, never interrupted by a single moment of dissonance or instrumental deviation, causes its forty minutes on album to pass without complication, making it the kind of score that can be put on repeat in your stereo and you likely won't be able to determine when the natural beginning or end of score passes. Only one dominant theme graces The Cider House Rules, and its endless repetitions could grow tiresome for some listeners, a trait that defines much of Portman's music. She does alter the theme for secondary performances on piano, repeating notes multiple times to create an almost Western style to its sound. You can compare both versions of the theme back-to-back on the piano and then woodwinds in "Homer Returns to the Orphanage."

The score does have its inherent weaknesses. The aforementioned consistency doesn't allow for the music to develop along with Homer and his destiny. The shorter running time of the album helps to diminish this problem, however. The simplicity in theme and orchestration might not satisfy listeners the way The Legend of Bagger Vance does. Clarinet and oboe performances are almost as constant as the piano. Strings provide a boost in ambience and brass are consistently utilized to set underlying chords only. Only once in The Cider House Rules does Portman actually allow the brass section to briefly carry the title theme, and that comes with the trumpets in "Homer Returns to the Orphanage." The other, perhaps most problematic weakness of The Cider House Rules is the theme itself. A blatant reworking of Jerry Goldsmith's charming and inspirational theme for the title character of Rudy, this theme's only original traits would go on to receive more interesting variations in The Legend of Bagger Vance. It's probable, looking back at the projects, that Rudy was placed as a temp track in The Cider House Rules and, inevitably, The Cider House Rules was placed as a temp track in The Legend of Bagger Vance. Such things don't normally prove too bothersome, but the straight-forward simplicity of Portman's statements of all her themes exposes these connections with clarity. Overall, The Cider House Rules isn't in the same league with Only You or The Legend of Bagger Vance, but it is an equally delightful and upbeat listening experience no matter what is happening on screen. In the post-Delerue era, it is this optimism that attracts many fans to Portman's works. And in a world in which composers of dramatic comedies and romances try to be either too cute (resulting in a catchy pop or jazz) or overly-melodramatic (which some might attribute specifically to James Horner), Portman successfully walks a fine line in between. Her flighty, brass-diminished scores offer simplistic, but endearing themes that will remain in the memory of the listener long after the music has finished, and The Cider House Rules is among these triumphs.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download