The interesting thing about Tyler's score for The Greatest Game Ever Played is that it competes in the same film and score genre as John Debney's Dreamer at about the same time, and both scores are fascinating studies in how the temp music for a film in production can affect the final composition. Whereas the veteran Debney avoids nearly all the pitfalls of the temp score phenomena, Tyler falls badly into those pitfalls in a few of his major thematic ideas for the film. Score collectors will immediately recognize the same structure and orchestration from James Horner's Legends of the Fall in Tyler's overture, as his attempt to score the Americana aspect of the story largely backfires on him. The lush, layered strings combined with an all-too-familiar theme doom this identity from the start, as does the rather stale performance by the Los Angeles musicians. A secondary theme has similarities to the score for Dust to Glory by newcomer Nathan Furst earlier in the year (another sports documentary), which is ironic because that score itself was a lesson in temp music pitfalls. The great sadness involving The Greatest Game Ever Played is that Tyler's underscore outside of the title themes is often very strong, incorporating a competitive spirit in lively rhythms that raises memories of his pinnacle Children of Dune work. These appealing rhythms use light drums, ethnic flutes, acoustic guitars, and chopping strings to inject much-needed life into a score that plays much longer than its 50 minutes on album. Cues such as "Determination," "A Call to Arms," and "Rain Battle" offer a spirited sense of competition that is diluted by the lengthy cues of solo piano interpretations of the title themes. The two performances of "Ride the High Country" (the theme, not the film) have a snare-driven, Western style that also plays better to the spirit of the film, leaving listeners wondering why Tyler (or the filmmakers) were hopelessly attracted to the rehash of Legends of the Fall for the "feel-good" drama of the tale. In the end, there are many similarities between The Greatest Game Ever Played and Dreamer, but Debney has a slightly more refined package. The Tyler score is a pleasant listen from start to end, with consistency as perhaps one of its awkward faults, and yet it's still refreshing to hear Tyler branch out from the horror genre that has defined his career to date. If only the spirit of the end titles replaced the overused drama in the opening titles, The Greatest Game Ever Played would be better able to stand on its own.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download