: (A.R. Rahman) A precarious and not
always successful balance between comedy and drama didn't stop the Vince
Vaughn written and acted 2009 film
from
attracting enough audiences searching for a few laughs to send it into
the hundreds of millions of dollars in gross earnings. First time
director Peter Billingsley couldn't reconcile the comedy and drama
halves of the film to satisfy critics, though, most of whom ultimately
admitting their desire for more of the silly laughs. The story follows a
familiar formula for a tropical party atmosphere, detailing four couples
from America who sign up for a therapeutic vacation to the island of
Eden (presumably in French Polynesia's Bora Bora), each seeking to learn
more about themselves, their partner, and their relationship along the
road to overcoming the sometimes impossible odds of their pairings. The
pressure on each couple is extensively established before the film even
gets to the paradise, where character actor performances and ridiculous
situations lead to the film's few comedic triumphs. The battle between
serious dramatic romance and plain immaturity, as well as a rushed and
contrived ending, ultimately sank the film for many viewers. But at
least Universal took a chance on the idea, something that especially
applied to the choice of composer for the film. It's difficult to fathom
that Indian sensation Allah Rakha Rahman, the foremost composer of his nation's
movie industry, has never helmed a score for a strictly American
production. While
may seem like an extremely odd
assignment to represent Rahman's official entry into Hollywood, it
actually makes quite a lot of sense. Not only did the composer storm the
Academy Awards this past year (with two wins for
), but he has spent his career bridging Western and
Indian sounds, a technique that would prove useful in creating an
ethnically diverse atmosphere for the tropical location of
. After meeting with Universal, Rahman was approved to work
on the film, taking advantage of the opportunity to go wild with the
creativity of his handling of the topic. Clearly, Rahman "overthought"
this film, providing for it an extremely intelligent blend of no less
than three cultural elements. Not only does he merge the sounds of a
Western orchestra and Latin band, but he also cleverly infuses some
Hindustani elements that will certainly please longtime collectors of
the composer's extensive Indian accomplishments.
Rahman enters an American industry in which conservative
predictability in music is rewarded with awards or future similar
assignments, and both the concurrent box office hits
2012 and
A Christmas Carol testify in favor of this fact. It's rare that a
ho-hum film that fits many of the usual patterns of its genre receives a
score bursting at the seams with personality.
Couples Retreat
could easily have benefited from a pretty, little orchestral score with
a few flamenco accents. Rahman starts with this format as his launching
point to a far more entertaining score than anyone could have expected
to hear, though. His ensemble isn't remarkable in terms of its size; the
Los Angeles group won't overwhelm you with power. But Rahman's
employment of vocal and instrumental accents from cultures spanning the
world is one ingredient to this score's success. The other is the
inherent enthusiasm that overflows from the mix of all of those
elements. The composer also retains thematic integrity throughout the
score, nurturing two extremely affable themes of convincing sincerity.
The first is the "Jason and Cynthia" theme, resembling Craig
Armstrong's
Love Actually and highlighted in the two tracks containing
the "Jason and Cynthia" title (and "The Waterfall"). Expressed by acoustic
guitar, piano and eventually a lush ensemble (as much as the number of
performers would allow) in both cues, this theme is as redemptive as any
light drama or comedy identity to come from an orchestra in the past few
years. It isn't as syrupy as what the foremost British composers might
produce, but it avoids the pitfalls of parody that many American
composers would have tripped up on here. It almost resembles the best of
David Newman's work for the genre. For orchestral purists, "Jason and
Cynthia Piano Theme" leaves behind all of the multi-cultural
embellishments and is as conservatively lovely as any theme for a score
in the genre. The other theme in
Couples Retreat is the more
overtly tropical and thus flavorful idea for the island of Eden, heard
first in teased fragments at the end of "Jason and Cynthia Suite" but
in full at the start of "Tour of the Villas" and reprised in both "The
Waterfall" and (closing the score) in "Animal Spirits." Rahman's use
of a flute to both carry the tune of this theme and as counterpoint is a
lovely touch in every circumstance. The explosive exuberance of this
theme in the buoyantly Latin portion of "Animal Spirits" is infectious
to a fault; if the first two minutes of that cue doesn't get your ass
wiggling in your seat, then get your pulse checked.
The same statement of infectious quality could be made
of several parts of
Couples Retreat, though the concluding cue is
about as fun as anything heard on screen in 2009. Outside of the two
primary themes, Rahman takes his creativity into a number of singular
score cues and a pair of songs. The first of the unique score cues is
the one representing the spiritual character of Marcel, who not only
runs the resort but is played by Jean Reno. Rahman originally intended
to use samples of the gruff voice of Reno for use in his score, and it's
unclear if any such recordings made it into "Meeting Marcel." The
synthetic keyboarding, vocal shades, percussion, and native flute in the
first half of this cue remind of James Horner's
Vibes, while the
second half is an intriguing combination of John Ottman's bass string
chopping (for his numerous horror scores) and the masculine choral and
string classicism of a melodramatic and grave stature typical to Hans
Zimmer. Rahman goes into near waltz territory with "Itinerary," with
playful bass string rhythms not unlike Rachel Portman's comedies and a
reprise of Marcel's theme in heavier tones later on. Both "Undress" and
"Sharks" represent the score's most stylistically foreign or challenging
tones, and most American listeners will find limited merit in them. The
use of the ghatam percussion instrument of South India in the former
connects back to Rahman's comfort zone. The composer's choppy string
rhythm for "Sharks" adheres to cliche perhaps too much, though the cue
does end on a spectacular, elongated note with varied Indian vocals. The
"Salvadore" cue is truly original, merging Latin gypsy tones with a
Hindustani Tarana (an Indian song of elation). The vocal performances by
Kailash Kher and Vijay Prakash in this cue, along with acoustic guitar
and clapping effects, are strangely intoxicating. The most ethereal cue
in
Couples Retreat is "Intervention," in which the melodramatic
tones of Marcel's identity are merged with simply lovely male and female
vocals, mixed at a slight distance and with a fair amount of reverb to
give them the stereotypical (but still highly effective) "haunting"
effect. Throughout all of these cues, the application of each instrument
is extremely well handled in the score. Along with the aforementioned
flute, Rahman also uses percussion expertly in the score. Timpani exists
in a central role (as in "Animal Spirits"), light metallic tones add
swooshes of romance to the air, and a few gong hits accompany Marcel's
material to match the on screen source-like usage.
The electronic elements in the score, usually taking
the form of sampled rhythms of light coolness, are integrated with
skill. It's difficult to tell at times if the clapping effects typical
to Rahman's career are synthetic. The calypso, reggae, and other Latin
elements are as pleasant as ever. Even the songs will likely be
palatable for film score collectors. Aside from "Luau," both "Sajna" and
"NaNa" were written by Rahman and fit well with the rest of the album
release. The melody of "Sajna" doubles as the theme for the island in
the score, bringing continuity to its softly romantic performance over
the end titles. Despite a much hyped recording of a phrase from this
song by Vince Vaughn (something that was rumored even long before the
film went into production), this performance is not included on the
album. Functioning like a song for some listeners is "Kurukuru Kan,"
perhaps the closest portion of the score to Rahman's previous
mannerisms; it's also a chance for his collectors to hear Rahman lend
his vocal talents to the soundtrack (along with the sounds of a few
chirping birds). The mixing of each of Rahman's layers of unusual
instrumentation and vocals allows all of them to flourish. Together, his
various pieces of song and score material for
Couples Retreat may
play like they traverse the world erratically and might seem, on the
surface, to yield an incohesive listening experience. What draws
everything together in this soundtrack is Rahman's enduring enthusiasm
and unique voice. Not only does this score take ethnic chances like few
from Hollywood or Europe, but the composer conveys all of his
unconventional ideas without losing his sense of humor and amiable
spirit. This film deserved far less than this kind of effort, and while
it may be rather short and ethnically wild, you have to admire how
different this music is from the drab, everyday muck produced for the
big screen in today's "play it safe" studio environment. Expect the
unexpected, with the exception of some track rearrangement for your
listening experience. Rahman fans will love
Couples Retreat and
detractors will expose their cynicism. If only the orchestral ensemble
had a bit more depth and the album offered more than about half an hour
of this truly fun score, this might have received the most surprising
five-star rating of any score this decade. If this is what he offers for
a badly underachieving Vince Vaughn comedy, then someone please help
Rahman find a great place to set up a recording studio in Los Angeles so
we can hear him give the Americans due competition in their own
neighborhood!
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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