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The minimally orchestral score for Parkland uses Howard's typical brooding synthetic elements as a base. A solo trumpet is sometimes answered by solemn horns, attempting almost a noir effect during the work's tonally expressive portions, which are few. The rest of the organic tones from the ensemble are highly marginalized, including the piano. Howard's electronics are mind-numbing but softly layered, usually under more accessible keyboard lines. Deep, clanging metallic effects are introduced in "Secret Service," and ambient atmospheres become increasingly prevalent, as in "I Forgive Your Sins," "Get Him to the Hospital," "Funeral," and "Two Burials." Moments of outright, insufferable horror occur, including "We Have a Heartbeat," and manipulation of the recording is awful in some of these passages. The choral overlays in "Get Him on the Plane" are likely synthetic but serve their purpose to produce a nightmarish fog of disbelief and sorrow. While Parkland is not a particularly melodic score, its highlights are all centered around the few cues in which Howard conveys his main theme. That idea is respectful but not really patriotic, suggesting only sadness in its solitary ascent and descent. Heard at 0:31 into "John F Kennedy" on solo trumpet, a secondary sequence adds compelling strings. Stark but compelling tonalities ooze despair in this cue, especially as strings and horn join the trumpet to lend additional gravity and respect. A string passage at the end of the cue strives for some John Williams-level drama. The trumpet continues to explore pieces of the theme in "Life Before," the composer's thumping percussion and plucked low strings bringing suspense into the equation. A piano toils with its formations in "Parade Prep" over increasing electronic tension, the horn and trumpet eventually joining for loftier stature. The main theme disintegrates against wet percussive and synthetic loops in "Trauma Room," and the piano leads into a string rendition of the theme's secondary phrasing in "Kiss Him Goodbye," a highlight of the score. Woodwinds begin to make more of an impact at this point, offering more warmth, and the trumpet returns for a heartbreaking closing phrase to denote closure to the president's life.

The restrained main theme for Parkland struggles thereafter in the narrative, stuttering on trumpet against dissonant haze in "The Video," opening "Cemetery" clearly on piano before degenerating into synthetic muck, and faintly haunting "Coffin" in partial lines on trumpet and keyboards before the string interlude is reprised. Intriguingly absent from "Funeral" and "Two Burials," this identity retreats until it stews on piano in "Life Goes On," finally leading into a dramatic string and trumpet moment, the latter instrument allowed to close out the score with the theme's definitive resolution to key. Common secondary material for the Secret Service provides the work's propulsion, picking up the pace with aggressive synthetic loops in "Secret Service." It adds the string ensemble to its driving force in "Developing the Tape" for a muscular moment. More metallic slapping tones take the rhythms in "Get Him on the Plane," the string and choral tones accentuating the contentious Air Force One decision. Restrained in "Can You Develop It," this material blasts in obnoxiously dissonant action mode with high-pitch droning noises in "It's Happening Again." Finally, an Oswald family theme is unfriendly and easy to miss in the murky environment of the whole. It uses slowly descending, slurred phrasing for dark tones in "They Think He's the Shooter," and this idea is a little more cohesive but no more pleasant in the brooding "Driving." Overall, the score is a basically functional but mind-numbing listening experience with a handful of pretty highlights, and 54 minutes is definitely way too long an album for this music. The middle portions of the presentation are maddeningly out of chronological order, and tracks cross-fade with each other as tended to happen on Howard's more serious scores of the era. There's nothing surprising from the composer for this assignment, but his music is tough to appreciate when dwelling in this kind of nightmarishly atmospheric haze. Howard enthusiasts will be best served by a suite made from "John F Kennedy," "Kiss Him Goodbye," "Developing the Tape" (maybe, if you want a taste of the rhythmic Secret Service material), and "Life Goes On," which together comprise eight minutes of this score's most compelling, albeit bludgeoned moments. Otherwise, expect none of the remainder to speak to your heart or console your soul.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For James Newton Howard reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.28 (in 78 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.29 (in 87,039 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 53:43