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Unfortunately, the score for Eye for an Eye is not immune to unpleasantly bland droning and atonality for the criminal element in "Tar Pits," "Marking Territory," "Video Sting," "Karen is Followed," "Phone Tap," and "Crime Scene." Much of the actual threatening suspense is handled with ambient synth drones typical to the composer's career and little more. There are a pair of obvious, louder passages in which Howard elevates the thrill of the tone to address the badass attitude of the mom. But these memorable portions are minimal in duration, leaving listeners more likely to seek refuge in the several cues of pretty thematic development for the well-rounded orchestra. Howard provides three themes for the score, two of them somewhat redundant in their representation of the family and a third one addressing the killer. A McCann family theme supplies general pleasantries for all the protagonists while a secondary theme for the murdered daughter, Julie, eventually becomes an inspirational force for the mom specifically. The family theme is a delicate piano and woodwind identity that rises and falls with innocence, anchored by its initial two pairs of descending notes. With distinct Horner sensibilities in its underlying piano rhythms, this theme is heard immediately in "Main Title" with a hopeful interlude sequence (possibly for the father) for additional woodwinds. It's barely enunciated at the start of "Overnight at Dolly's," the interlude very softly conveying sadness from strings and woodwinds. He idea takes the place of Julie's theme in the quiet mourning of "Julie's Pillow," noodles around the periphery in "Private Meeting," and offers hope, especially from the interlude sequence, in "Dirty Pillow." The family theme later struggles against the related villain identity in "We Can Help You," reassures in the middle of "Are You Still Mad?" with the interlude sequence slowed, and has difficulty reestablishing itself in "Mack Arrives Home" but ends score on a positive note. It closes the "End Credits" suite with a return to its warmer "Main Title" performance, again featuring the optimistic interlude that supplies some peace in each of its renditions.

This main family theme in Eye for an Eye doesn't shine much outside of the opening and closing cues, and that's because it is largely supplanted in purpose by the Julie theme that comes to represent the defiance of the mom. This identity is increasingly melancholy, its descending motions utilizing related, rambling piano formations underneath. The similar piano and woodwind instrumentation from the main theme provides a seamless transition from the opening titles into "Birthday Preparations," which reveals that this idea also contains a more hopeful interlude sequence, albeit brief. Strains of the melody are abused in the panic at the height of "Rape and Murder," a cue surprisingly bereft of notable thematic reference. The theme for Julie haunts the rest of the score for Eye for an Eye, tenderly emerging from the family theme at 0:40 into "Overnight at Dolly's" and occupying a lovely flute rendition over piano in "Where's Julie?" It joins the family theme lightly in "Dirty Pillow," symbolically dies out in the suspense of "We Got Him," and becomes moderately panicked for a moment in "Courtroom." The theme is often fragmented from there, persisting on the margins in "Still in Bed" and its main descending phrase becoming violent in "Can You Help Me?" It turns into a pulsating action motif of inspiration in "Training Montage" over thumping synths and shifts to a new variant of solace and beauty for piano and flute in "Are You Still Mad?" Vaguely meandering at the start of "Karen Leaves Angel's," the Julie theme overtakes the family theme on piano in the final moments of "Mack Arrives Home" for peace and opens "End Credits" in a brighter and nicely explored version of "Birthday Preparations." Still, this theme wasn't really needed; the family theme could have been adapted just as extensively to serve the same purpose, and some listeners won't even notice the differences between their similar performances. The theme for the villain, Doob, comes in two parts, the first keenly sharing first two pairs of notes with the family theme (but cleverly twisted to darker tones) and the second a stalking motif meandering from, around, and to key. The latter is accessed more frequently, but the former is more memorable.

After being absent from the action of the cue, the villain's material for Eye for an Eye is introduced in the last minute of "Rape and Murder." It lightly taunts the middle of "We Got Him" in remarkably soft shades, gains confidence and focus in the slightly dissonant layers of "Case Dismissed," and informs the descending figures against the contemporary stylings of "Following Doob," where quite a bit of The Fugitive exists in the suddenly defiant moment. Subdued over pulsating, Michael Kamen-like suspense in "Denillo Warns Doob," the villain's theme turns darker but remains under control in "Playground," grimly announces itself from low strings and brass in "We Can Help You," starts significantly menacing the family's piano tones in "Backyard/Karen is Followed," staggers through "Crime Scene" in pieces, and is slight in "Doob is Released." It intriguingly shifts gears to represent the protagonist in "Trashing Apartment," enjoying a full performance at 1:34 with the contemporary stylings from "Training Montage." This material builds in intensity out of the synthetic haze in "Setup" but oddly doesn't factor in "It's Very Personal" for the climactic confrontation, the music devolving instead into mindless slashing and pounding. Howard reprises the theme's "Trashing Apartment" form at 1:32 into the "End Credits" suite, and the idea quietly taunts the very end of the suite to suggest a lack of resolution to the tale. That suite is generally a solid representation of everything you need to hear in Eye for an Eye, conveying the best renditions of the three themes. The rest of the score is workmanlike but not particularly attractive, especially in the droning suspense and occasionally abrasive action akin to Just Cause. A listener seeking the softer character themes could assemble about a dozen minutes of such performances, but they won't be worth the hassle for most. The score was only released by La-La Land Records as a limited product in 2014, with 51 minutes from the score joined by two alternate cues. While "Trashing Apartment (Alternate)" is not quite as aggressive as the accepted cue, "Mack Arrives Home (Alternate)" is slightly darker and appends some unneeded synth droning for a tiresome effect at the end. The rare album won't justify the effort for all but the biggest enthusiasts of Howard's lesser dramatic thrillers, but the score accomplishes its basic goals.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For James Newton Howard reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.25 (in 87 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.22 (in 89,955 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 56:57