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Review of October Sky (Mark Isham)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you take solace in Mark Isham's softer, understated dramatic writing for smaller orchestras, this score achieving a sensitive country demeanor without any unnecessary dramatic extroversion.

Avoid it... if sparsely rendered, slowly enunciated themes cannot sustain the emotional punch you demand for a story of this interpersonal gravity and stargazing whimsy.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

October Sky: (Mark Isham) Celebrated for years in the Appalachian region for its recognition of the struggles of youth in coal country, the 1999 drama October Sky is the mostly true autobiographical tale of a young West Virginia man who in 1957 rejected his future in the coal mines to instead pursue a future in rocketry. The launch of the Sputnik satellite by the Soviets inspired him and a group of like-minded space dreamers to use whatever means available to launch their own amateur rockets. At the heart of the story, however, is the teenager's strained relationship with his father, a dedicated coal mine manager. After initially rejecting the boys' plight, both the families and the townspeople at large come to support the endeavor. The lead character eventually moves on to a career in engineering that landed him at NASA. While Joe Johnston's movie did change some of the events from the source book from which it was adapted, the wholesome father-son element survived and drove the narrative. Although the director had a fruitful working relationship with composer James Horner to that point in his career at the helm of feature films, he spent the next two decades rotating between major composers, starting with Mark Isham on October Sky. Johnston had extensively temped the picture to Isham's music and hired the composer because of that affinity for the music's style. Isham, like all composers, was accustomed to hearing (and often disregarding if necessary) the temp scores in a new project, but he admitted that his music worked rather well on this movie right from the beginning. He took a different tact with the final score, and his music had to contend with a significant amount of 1950's pop songs sprinkled throughout the movie. His score was comparatively very conservative, applying a small orchestra of strings, woodwinds, rare brass depth, and a few percussive accents to supply a hearty base for the characters. A solo violin is the centerpiece of the ensemble, lending a folksy, timeless country demeanor. This group performs very respectfully with the intent of avoiding any semblance of sappy Hollywood presence in the music. Isham clearly preferred understatement here, generating a rather sparse and restrained score that strives unsuccessfully to push the dramatic element when sometimes needed but is otherwise non-offensive in each of its parts.

The subdued Americana spirit in Isham's approach to October Sky conveys a sufficient but at times odd sense of hopelessness in the location and circumstances of the story. For the concept of a dying coal town and familial struggles, this choice makes sense, but it also robs some of the dramatic potential from the work overall. There is some stewing in sparsely pleasant anonymity ("Miss Riley") that especially hurts the narrative of the score. The thematic handling is very simplistic, with no counterpoint and tempos excruciatingly slow. While Isham devised two primary themes and one secondary theme for October Sky, none really captures your imagination. A father-son theme serves as the main identity, one mostly for the relationship in turmoil. It opens and closes "Coalwood" on solo violin, becomes fragmented in "The Rocket Book" and barely cohesive in the chords of "I Was Lucky to Know Him," and shifts to woodwinds in "It is a Thing of Glory." This main theme provides the solo violin in a more whimsical state in "The Dreams of Boys," opens "This One's Yours" in kind emotion, and returns to the solo violin at the outset of "October Sky," where it resolves to a dramatic new identity by Isham's intent. Alternating extensively with this theme is what the composer calls the "Wonder of Sputnik theme," with more ascending, hopeful phrasing that highlights the score. This idea is romanticized on full strings in the middle of "Coalwood," shifts to woodwinds and strings over flowing harp in "Sputnik!," and offers some muted enthusiasm with rambling plucking in "Cape Coalwood." After a fuller rendition in "Splitting the Sky," the wonder theme is more redemptive but still subdued in "Rocket Boys" before building to nice full passage. It finally alternates with the main theme more formally in "This One's Yours" to denote acceptance and love. A secondary motif that Isham deems appropriate for scientific triumph is optimistic with metallic percussion in "The Search for AUK 13," returns with that liveliness and percussion in "Range and Altitude," and is smoothed out for a more dramatic effect at the height of "Rocket Boys." While these themes basically function and are somewhat pretty, they lack punch and memorability. Still, despite this nagging flaw and an album that switches distractingly between the incongruent songs and the score regularly, Isham's music for October Sky maintains a faithful following. Though sparsely rendered, there is a consistent sense of kindness that prevails from start to finish, and with that sensitive country demeanor, the composer achieves his aim.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 52:28

• 1. Coalwood (2:02) • 2. Sputnik! (1:08) • 3. The Rocket Book (0:55) • 4. Ain't That a Shame - performed by Fats Domino (2:26) • 5. The Search for Auk 13 (3:28) • 6. I Was Lucky to Know Him (2:34) • 7. My Prayer - performed by The Platters (2:46) • 8. That'll Be the Day - performed by Buddy Holly (2:18) • 9. It is a Thing of Glory (1:32) • 10. I Won't Shed a Tear (3:14) • 11. The Black Phone (0:44) • 12. The Dreams of Boys (2:35) • 13. Searchin' - performed by The Coasters (2:40) • 14. Yakety Yak - performed by The Coasters (1:51) • 15. Cape Coalwood (0:53) • 16. Miss Riley (2:23) • 17. Splitting the Sky (1:21) • 18. Speedo - performed by The Cadillacs (2:20) • 19. I'll Be Gone Forever (0:56) • 20. Range and Altitude (1:38) • 21. Rocket Boys (3:52) • 22. This One's Yours (1:46) • 23. October Sky (4:30) • 24. It's All In The Game - performed by Tommy Edwards (2:37)

NOTES & QUOTES:

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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 October Sky are Copyright © 1999, Sony Classical and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 2/6/24 (and not updated significantly since).