Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #2,028
Written 9/26/20
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Buy it... if you can appreciate the classy, noir-inspired ambience
of an elegant murder mystery environment for primarily strings and
piano.
Avoid it... if you seek an impactful dose of devious charm in your
waltz-driven character themes for the genre, this score's performances
lacking the enthusiasm necessary to make it truly memorable.
Knives Out: (Nathan Johnson) Good, old-fashioned
murder mysteries are so rarely pulled off in the era of digital fakery,
yet 2019's Knives Out rode its masterful script and ensemble cast
performances to critical and fiscal success. A wealthy old novelist
(Christopher Plummer) assembles his family for his 85th birthday at his
sprawling Massachusetts mansion. After his throat is slit that night, a
private detective (Daniel Craig) is hired by one of the family members
to investigate and reveal the murderer. The ensuing "whodunit" plot
twists are genuinely thrilling, Rian Johnson's writing and directing
overachieving all expectations, and the studio green-lit a sequel
featuring Craig's character shortly thereafter. In part because murder
mysteries have generally existed on the small screen over the years, the
music for the genre has tended to be underwhelming background noise.
Stepping up his game is Rian Johnson's cousin, Nathan Johnson, for a
film score that plays to many of the musical stereotypes of the genre
but does so with more dramatic weight. Nathan Johnson's composing career
has been largely tied to Rian's films, with the obvious exception of
Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The composer has been absent from the
mainstream scoring scene for several years as a result, instead pursuing
his own directorial and graphic art projects. His output for Knives
Out is better than expected and garnered far more widespread
interest than his previous scores. His music mingles with a variety of
songs spanning several generations in the film, and it serves to root
the mystery in the genre's film noir past via a traditional orchestral
approach. The heart of the score exists in a quartet of strings and
piano that give the setting and characters a sense of class even if it
is not entirely deserved. A full symphonic backing is supplied for the
score's revelatory and action scenes, building in fits and starts until
the duo of "Blanc's Tale" cues at the end blows the lid off the mystery
with a raucous climax. Johnson maintains a cautious but consistently
elegant stance throughout the score, careful not to steal attention but
function as though the mansion had a small ensemble of live performers
in a neighboring room. The result is highly productive but a step behind
the deviousness of the script, this despite the composer's attempt to
convey humor through parody applications of his music at times. It is
difficult to determine how much of this score was meant as
pseudo-parody, for there is an enthusiasm gap between the performances
here and what you would hear in an intentionally over-the-top romp.
Stylistically, the
Knives Out score's demeanor
strives to bridge the gap between Danny Elfman darkness and Marc Shaiman
humor, occasionally attempting to resurrect the sense of higher artistry
of John Ottman's early thriller mode. Given that Johnson utilizes waltz
rhythms with a hint of jazz for his primary identities, one can't help
but feel the distant vibes of Shaiman's
The Addams Family for the
thematic portions and Ottman's
Incognito for the action
interludes. But the major difference here is that Johnson restrains
himself from the exuberance conveyed in those other scores, making
Knives Out a proficient but not necessarily enthusiastic player
in this mystery. The performances in the score are solid but lack the
sonic wink and nod that comes when the players are really emoting
through performance emphasis. With this restraint of tone in mind, the
score is something of a missed opportunity despite being fine
technically. Johnson conjures two themes for the score, one to represent
the murder mystery as a whole and the other to toil with the estate of
the wealthy novelist. Neither is a barn-burner, but the two ideas are
almost constantly developed and weave in and out of the work to such an
extent that the listener may not really distinguish between their
purposes by the end. The main mystery theme is summarized in the "Knives
Out" and "Knives Out, Part II (The Will)" cues, defined by the string
performers and suggesting the more classical aspect of the tale. The
family's theme, debuting in "The Thrombey Estate" and dominating the
early cues through "On the Eve of Harlan's Demise," is where the charm
of
Knives Out attempts to emerge, the borderline cheeky gothic
representation of Plummer's character and his surroundings proving more
memorable than the score's other theme. While much of the work stews
with these themes in restrained string, woodwind, and piano renditions,
the highlights often add brass and percussion to the mix, as in the
horror burst at the end of "The Attic Room," the grandiose opening of
"No Surprises," and the work's singular standout cue, "The Dumbest Car
Chase of All Time," in which Johnson treats a ridiculously futile and
humorous chase sequence with completely straight-faced action aided by
clanging metallic percussion and snare. The aforementioned pair of
"Blanc's Tale" cues picks up the pace and, especially in the latter one,
affords some bloated melodrama markedly suitable for the tale's
revelations. Overall,
Knives Out is a smart composition with a
well-developed narrative and just enough charm and elegance to suffice
for the plot, but its performances are rather flat. The main lossless
album available is a double vinyl release, which contains three
source-like (and quite obnoxious) bonus tracks not on the digital
product.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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