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Review of Godmothered (Rachel Portman)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if the vintage romantic comedy style of Rachel Portman has been absent in your life for far too long, the composer whole-heartedly embracing a magical return to the best of her 1990's works.

Avoid it... if you foolishly mock "girlie soundtracks" because you are an insecure and unromantic brute.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Godmothered: (Rachel Portman) A despicably stupid but playfully saccharine diversion for those predisposed to fantasy comedies aimed at the ladies in the audience, 2020's mostly live action Godmothered is Disney's pilfering of the fairy godmother concept for application to contemporary light drama. In the imaginary world of the "Motherland," fairy godmothers are running in short supply because so few modern kids wish for anything traditional like true love. The youngest godmother in the training school for these ladies is an incompetent rebel and comedian who decides to disobey her headmistress and answer the wish a 10-year-old girl named Mackenzie in the real world. Unfortunately, this girl is actually now a 40-year-old, divorced mother of two, and the godmother has to track down and ingratiate herself to this disbelieving modern woman. The "fish out of water" humor is extended by the godmother's incompetent but gradually improving skills with magic. If the godmother doesn't succeed in finding Mackenzie true love before a deadline, the planet will essentially explode. In the end, it's a tale about a family coming together, with a lot of bathroom and other juvenile humor along the way. Audiences weren't particularly impressed by this Disney lightweight, but someone who definitely took her assignment seriously was British composer Rachel Portman, whose orchestral score is intermingled between numerous original and existing song placements in the film. In the 1990's, Portman was an industry darling, providing drama and romance music of a distinct airy style that proved quite popular for about ten years. As she withdrew from work for her own family and explored darker genres, her career sputtered in the mainstream. Even in her less romantically flamboyant scores of the 2010's, however, her trademark lyricism and soft touch with instrumentation continued to define her works. She is, if nothing else, extremely consistent in her approach to film scoring and, although she does utilize synthesizers like almost all of those writing music for films today, her defining sound is about as purely organic as one can be. Still, she had difficulty finding the right assignment to truly resurrect her ultimate, grand-scale romanticism of the 1990's. That is, until Godmothered.

Not all film music collectors have an appreciation for the role scores like Only You, Addicted to Love, and The Legend of Bagger Vance played in the comedy and drama genres at the time, but for those that did, Godmothered's music is something of a fairy tale come true. Elements of all three of those scores are rolled extensively into the hopelessly optimistic and flowingly romantic tone of this 2020 score, nary a moment of despair interrupting Portman's shameless embrace of major key goodness. The composer was dealt all the same setbacks in recording the score that faced others trying to produce a sizable film score in 2020, but the result is superbly authentic. Her work for Godmothered is as lushly melodic and heartfelt as any vintage Portman enthusiast could want, the glowing tone of her orchestral beauty aided here by a phenomenal mix that begs for a lossless presentation at high volumes. Strings and woodwinds are her bread and butter, and the woodwinds in this entry heavily emphasize the smoother tones of bassoon and clarinet. The piano is an absolute must, of course, as is a bevy of light percussive effects highlighted by chimes, triangle, tastefully tapping snare, harp, and even her affable woodblocks. Brass isn't extensively employed, the trumpet section tasked most frequently, but there are some momentous swells that require that fuller group. Acoustic guitar is a fine contributor for the modern familial and romance element. From The Legend of Bagger Vance comes the cooing choir for the fantasy aspect, the voices lovely in duties similar to Craig Armstrong's equivalent use. Aside from the coloration, the extensive waltz rhythms that carry the score's pace provide the hint of fairy tale classicism needed for this context. Pronounced rhythms are another highly recognizable trait of her career comedy and drama work, and Godmothered flows effortlessly through the slow but tantalizingly pretty tonalities. There is a touch of over-the-top comedy at times, of course, the ambitious ensemble explosions equally faithful to Portman's past works. The total consistency in her tone throughout compensates for a somewhat muddy thematic picture, one main theme clearly dominant but supporting ideas often applying similar progressions or phrases in offshoots that often don't congeal for a secondary purpose.

The primary theme in Godmothered is both immediate and seemingly omnipresent, supplying more than enough continuity for the listening experience even if the secondary ideas suffer by comparison. This main theme is for both Eleanor, the young godmother, and her magic, often accompanied by undulating major third rhythmic figures that sometimes occur independently of the melody. The theme's bright, sprightly tone hits right away at 0:08 into "Good Morning Motherland" and wastes no time shifting to total exuberance at the outset of "To the Portal." It develops quickly, with majestic scope and choral accompaniment at 1:12 into "The Assignment." It retreats at 0:53 on "Your Dearest Wish" and opens "House Poof" before immediately transitioning to Mackenzie's theme. Eleanor's theme opens "Mackenzie's Big Day Out" with whimsy, returning on trumpets at 0:51, and starts "The Problem With Fairytales" in fragments on piano before going big at 0:56. It takes on the soft sadness of the Mackenzie theme in "Mackenzie Asks Eleanor to Leave" and is tentative early in "Carriage Transformation" before a major fantasy explosion at 2:26 with wild triangle and chimes as Eleanor turns not a pumpkin but a watermelon into a carriage. The carriage cues are truly outstanding, Portman transitioning Eleanor's theme to massive depth with choir and drum backing at 0:13 into "Carriage Flight." (Note that this cue is interrupted by a source song at a parade on screen.) The theme retreats back to a soft and pretty statement at 0:48 into "I Am a Fairy Godmother" and provides the anticipated crescendo of force for the finale at 3:00 into "Who's Your True Love?," prominent trumpet and other brass notable additions. Often utilizing similar pacing and instrumentation is Eleanor's personal mischief theme that less about the film as a whole than it is about her silly antics. An underlying, alternating two-note rhythm familiar from Only You sometimes aides this idea; it's all over the score but is isolated at the end of "Agnes Facetime" and start of "I Am a Fairy Godmother." The actual mischief theme pops up frequently as well in "First Spells," "House Poof," "Magical Concoctions," "Eleanor Sledges," and "Celebrations," among others. These two thematic identities and their rhythmic accompaniment are the heart and soul of the score, and the remainder of the themes have significant difficulty enunciating themselves by comparison.

The most frustrating secondary theme in Godmothered is one that attempts to develop around the Mackenzie character but never quite kicks the chord progressions it shares with Eleanor's theme, additionally leaving you with a vague impression that Portman was channeling a bit of Danny Elfman's Edward Scissorhands here. Somber for woodwinds and choir at 0:14 into "Your Dearest Wish," the theme continues at 0:10 into "House Poof" before maturing on acoustic guitar and expanding in a different direction at 0:14 into "Hugh Prince Charming." It vaguely helps to inform the start of "Time for Change" and segues into a choral and guitar variant for the family in "Jane Takes the Stage." Its final prominent moment comes at 0:22 into "Who's Your True Love?" on flute. Also underplayed is something of a motif for Motherland, its rising progressions often yielding a crescendo of magical fantasy tone. Listen for this general idea at 0:28 and 0:54 into "To the Portal," 0:53 into "The Assignment" (with softer choral shades leading to a big pronouncement of the Eleanor theme), in allusion only at 0:28 into "Three Steps to Happily Ever After," at 0:09 into "First Spells," and in suspense mode at 2:51 into "Time for Change." On the other hand, there is one secondary theme that's a pure winner, and it's Portman's slight calypso personality for Gary the Raccoon, housecleaning creature extraordinaire. This genuinely humorous and lovable theme occupies all of "Gary the Raccoon" and recurs at 0:25 and 1:35 into "Mackenzie's Big Day Out," most of "Gary and the Fairy Lights," and 2:24 into "Time for Change." A handful of unique blasts of great character in the Godmothered score include the frantic "Exploding Pumpkins," the playful "Magical Concoctions," the touching descending figures in "Mia and Eleanor Talk" (reminiscent of Dario Marianelli's Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, of all things), the exuberant extension of the Eleanor theme in "Motherland Epilogue" for the film's one animated sequence, and, of course, the wonderful adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Do-Re-Mi" song from The Sound of Music at 1:10 into "Mackenzie's Big Day Out." Overall, this score is to Portman what The One and Only Ivan was to Armstrong the same year. It's a gorgeous but structurally simplistic work that plays to your heart rather than your brain, especially as its attention to style trumps thematic cohesion. A pair of inoffensive pop songs is a decent addition to the album. For the vintage Portman enthusiast, Godmothered is a wish come true.  ****

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 55:13

• 1. Good Morning Motherland (1:43) • 2. To the Portal (1:48) • 3. The Assignment (1:58) • 4. Three Steps to Happily Ever After (1:19) • 5. Exploding Pumpkins (1:03) • 6. First Spells (1:29) • 7. Your Dearest Wish (3:08) • 8. Gary the Raccoon (1:06) • 9. House Poof (2:24) • 10. Magical Concoctions (1:14) • 11. Agnes Facetime (2:26) • 12. Mackenzie's Big Day Out (1:51) • 13. Mia and Eleanor Talk (0:58) • 14. Gary and the Fairy Lights (1:09) • 15. The Problem With Fairytales (1:39)

• 16. Eleanor Sledges (1:32) • 17. Celebrations (1:38) • 18. Hugh Prince Charming (1:50) • 19. Ballgown (1:05) • 20. Mackenzie Asks Eleanor to Leave (2:48) • 21. Time for Change (3:30) • 22. Carriage Transformation (3:12) • 23. Carriage Flight (0:52) • 24. Jane Takes the Stage (1:40) • 25. I Am a Fairy Godmother (1:14) • 26. Who's Your True Love? (3:59) • 27. Motherland Epilogue (0:48) • 28. Rise Up (Joy to the World)* (2:37) • 29. Hero* (3:15)

NOTES & QUOTES:

There exists no official packaging for this album.

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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Godmothered are Copyright © 2020, Walt Disney Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 2/26/21 (and not updated significantly since).