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The effortless interaction between themes extends to a third one introduced by flute in "Charades" and expanded upon by the same instrument in "Officer Jimbo." This tender woodwind theme often floats with ease in fragments over other thematic statements. A love theme of sorts is introduced in "Ripples in the Pool," once again performed by woodwinds, and is reprised in the "End Titles." Other motifs and fragments appear throughout Lady in the Water, sustaining your interest in each of their variations. Holding them all together is perhaps an even greater reason for the success of the score: the constant movement of rhythm. There have been a handful of scores throughout the years that have perfectly captured the perpetual movement of water, and Lady in the Water joins that elite group. Whether on piano, celesta, harp, or string, there is a constant tingling of motion in the score. Even at his most soothing and reflective, Howard maintains a bed of rhythmic activity that intensifies when necessary for the "awe factor" of the specific scene. The rhythmic activity is often consistent under performances of several different themes within the same cue. One such example is in the addictive "Charades" cue, where tingling percussion joins the rhythmic movement in ways very similar to James Horner's nature-suggestive The New World, and three of Howard's primary themes elegantly mingle without interruption due to the rhythmic waves underneath. The orchestration and choice of instrumentation in specific cues is remarkable (the rambling harmonic piano is another Horner carry-over here), and the mix of the recording offers a perfect balance between the ethereal reverberation necessary for the fantasy genre and the attention to detail in each performance that serves as clear evidence of the score's intelligence. The superior handling of instruments extends to the more robust sequences of the score as well; Howard often mutes his trumpets in Lady in the Water, producing distinct similarities to Bernard Herrmann's Cape Fear in both the slight dissonance of the muted trumpets as well as the masterful use of lighter elements to capture the essence of swirling waters.

The complexity of the brass layers in the phenomenally climactic "The Great Eatlon" offers shades of John Williams' best action writing, and Howard even throws in one momentous gong hit at the end of a rousing statement of the theme of evil in that cue. Despite these positive stylistic similarities to other composers at times, Lady in the Water is still saturated with the musical mannerisms of James Newton Howard. He has a tendency to let rip with fantastic crescendos for the whole ensemble, and Lady in the Water has moments that will remind you of the creepy scene in Devil's Advocate when every person in the world has been erased, or of the climactic moment of realization at the end of The Sixth Sense. The chord progression in the latter half of "The Blue World," in fact, shares many similarities to the primary theme for The Sixth Sense. Fans who enjoyed the propulsive movement of the rhythms in Batman Begins will be appreciative that some of the forward-leaning churning here involves the same heavy strings at times. Luckily, Lady in the Water is mixed well enough to allow for a dominant bass presence without drowning out treble elements. Also present in this score is a handful of electronic texturing that has often accompanied Howard's work through the years; its contribution is somewhat minimal, however, limited in extended presentation to the latter half of "Ripples in the Pool." The prolonged dissonance heard in previous Shyamalan scores does exist in Lady in the Water, but is often a slight influence during otherwise harmonic statements. Only a few moments of dissonant hits are to be heard, and are often followed by a continuation of harmonic rhythms and themes that can continue for five minutes at a time. The piano is once again a central element for Howard's elegant side. Choral use in the score is mature as well, with the high female wordless vocals suiting the subject delightfully well. Howard rarely allows a full performance of the Blue World theme to go by without accompanying the ensemble with the choir. Less obvious is the lower choral accompaniment of the theme of evil, as in the opening cue.

When you step back and appreciate Lady in the Water as a whole, you recognize that Howard has provided everything that you could ever want in a watery fable. It moves in waves like the pool, it has a magical element of fantasy in its instrumentation, it has loyal and memorable themes for every aspect of the story, and it builds up to one hell of a tumultuously satisfying climax. The opening cue teases you with hints of the major themes, as it should, and the end credits pulls away and leaves you with a shadowy reflection of what has just passed. With the exception of a few tracks, including the more fearful "Walkie Talkie" cue, as well as the latter halves of "Ripples in the Water" and "Giving the Kii," Lady in the Water is an easy and enveloping listening experience on album. And even in these few moments of electronic texture of dissonant crescendos, Howard always at least maintains your interest with his intelligent layers of sound. The handling of the themes, often in conjunction with one another or the rhythms below, is worthy of study alone. The performances by the 90+ orchestra players and 60 singers from Los Angeles are as precise and enthusiastic as those you hear from their counterparts in London. They recorded 70+ minutes of music for Lady in the Water, however only 42 minutes of that material was pressed onto the Decca album for the film. Missing from the album is a significant suite of the score's themes that was assembled for and recorded at the sessions, leading inevitably (given the quality of the score) to some scrambling by soundtrack collectors for that material on the secondary market. The album was instead populated with incorporated music originally by Bob Dylan; four cover songs of his material sufficiently mutilate the originals almost beyond recognition. Both "The Times They Are A-Changin" and "Every Grain of Sand" were altered in tone to suit a grim, watery atmosphere (whether through alteration of voice volume or through electronic manipulation of voice), while the latter two songs by "Silvertide" are largely unlistenable, harsh renditions. Don't let the songs (conveniently placed at the end) deter you from a short, but rewarding presentation of an outstanding score. In its vast complexity of layers, themes, and orchestration, Lady in the Water is the polar opposite of the concurrent Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest by Howard's good friend Hans Zimmer. Even within Howard's superior body of work, Lady in the Water is a definite highlight.  *****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For James Newton Howard reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.4 (in 62 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.33 (in 73,300 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 59:40