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Review of Knives Out (Nathan Johnson)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

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.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

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.  ****

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 51:57

• 1. Knives Out (String Quartet in G Minor) (1:51) • 2. The Thrombey Estate (1:38) • 3. Like Father, Like Son (1:02) • 4. The Thrombey Family Theme (Solo Piano) (1:34) • 5. Double-Dipping (1:05) • 6. Snooping (2:05) • 7. On the Eve of Harlan's Demise (3:59) • 8. Harlan's Plan (3:16) • 9. The Wake (1:32) • 10. The Attic Room (1:18)

• 11. The Game's Afoot (4:00) • 12. The Broken Trellis (2:07) • 13. Knives Out, Part II (The Will) (3:04) • 14. Foul Play (3:26) • 15. The Dumbest Car Chase of All Time (2:56) • 16. Blackmail (3:14) • 17. No More Surprises (0:50) • 18. Blanc's Tale, Pt. I (5:02) • 19. Blanc's Tale, Pt. II (6:12) • 20. The Thrombey Family Theme (1:47)

NOTES & QUOTES:

There is no official packaging for the digital release of this score.

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