Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #924
Written 11/12/05
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Buy it... if you enjoy solid orchestral feel-good scores that are
pleasant and undemanding in their Americana simplicity.
Avoid it... if John Debney's heartland style of acoustic guitars
and solos for violin and piano might sound just slightly too much like a
temp-track job for your veteran ears.
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| Debney |
Dreamer: (John Debney) You have to wonder just how
many times a movie like this can be remade before people just get plain
sick and tired of them. But Dreamer plays to the age old dreams
of little girls (and some boys) everywhere, and it's wholesome
entertainment with enough big name actors to keep the imaginations of
the parents alive in the theatre as well. In this case, the "inspired by
a true story" addendum is slapped on to the title to remind us of a
horse named Mariah's Storm that accomplished between 1993 and 1995 the
exact feat we are presented with in Dreamer: a promising horse
that breaks its leg in a race (an all-too-common occurrence in the
modern age of cortisone shots for horses... but that's a whole other
controversy) but is mended against all odds to win a major race for its
destitute owner. For the purposes of good moviemaking, you throw in a
little girl, a mysterious grandparent (Dakota Fanning and Kris
Kristofferson rarely hurt any film they're in), a resolute Kurt Russell,
and hope the script works. First-time director John Gatins is also the
first-time screenwriter, and indications from the critics are that the
film plays exactly as it should to the right audience. The beautiful
setting of Kentucky as well as the feel-good nature of the story would
merit the ultimate in pastoral scores, and while Hollywood veteran John
Debney seems like the perfect choice for the project, Gatins was
originally slated to employ Jan A.P. Kaczmarek for Dreamer.
Perhaps choosing Kaczmarek simply because of his Academy Award win early
in the year, Gatins was witness to the firing of Kaczmarek for reasons
not precisely known, but perhaps due to the composer's poor genre
placement in the first place. Thus, John Debney, not only the ultimate
expert in score replacement, expansion, and temp-track emulation, but
also a composer familiar with heroic sports and Americana stories, was
hired to provide the predictable score. In fact, Debney's job is
preformed so well, that Dreamer fits every stereotype he was
likely asked to recreate.
The important part of Debney's work for
Dreamer,
however, is that despite his ability to gladly provide the same score
that dozens have written before, he does so with a highly emotional
performance and superior recording quality. For fans, we may listen to
the score and debate which six or seven scores its pretty, orchestral
themes of the heartland are inspired by, and yet to the average parent
and his/her eight-year-old, Debney has done a fantastic job.
Dreamer really is a pleasant, enjoyable score to relax to on a
sunny day, with flowing performances by soloists that provide just
enough country atmosphere without irritating those of us who don't care
much for that environment. The traditional orchestra is accompanied by
acoustic guitars, dulcimer, mandola, and the more prominent solos by
Joshua Bell on violin and Michael Lang on piano. There is definitely
some James Horner sensibility to be heard with these solos, but Debney
achieves that extra level of child-like exuberance through the
rhythmically propulsive sections in which the full strings ramble over
the acoustic guitars. The themes are a bit anonymous, but their harmony
is never in question, and once again Debney's talents at mutating temp
scores such as
Legends of the Fall and (especially)
Black
Beauty into a convincingly fresh idea must be commended. The only
disappointment regarding the score for
Dreamer is that the
talents of Bell and Lang aren't utilized with enough emphasis (outside
of obvious uses, such as the violin solos in the opening cue) to give
these Debney themes an identity that would stand out after the film is
over. This seems to be a characteristic inherent in horse racing film
scores (from
The Black Stallion to
Seabiscuit in the
modern age), and one thing
Dreamer also reminds us of is just how
funny, unique, and remarkable Mark Isham's score for
Racing
Stripes was earlier in the year. On album,
Dreamer is a
lengthy exercise in undemanding and pleasant listening, with the
expected flourishes of hope and sustained action of the finale. Several
alternate mixes (including one that proves that the violin solos in the
opening cue were severely underplayed in the film) are concluded with
one unfortunate pop song as a hidden track. Overall, Debney's work is a
winner in its genre.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
Bias Check:
For John Debney reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.33
(in 56 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.1
(in 49,967 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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