 |
| Powell |
Paycheck: (John Powell) The concept and execution
of 2003's
Paycheck is consistent with both the stories of author
Philip K. Dick and the directing of John Woo. Seeming like a natural
fit, Dick penned many popular sci-fi stories, many of them in the short
format, that have been adapted into the likes of
Minority Report
and the cult classic
Blade Runner. From the modern action genre
of Hong Kong, Woo kept the pulse pounding with films such as
Mission:
Impossible 2 and
Face/Off. The concept of
Paycheck is
closer to the thrilling futuristic aspects of
Minority Report
than anything else, with Ben Affleck playing a brilliant scientist who
does secretive work for large corporations with the understanding that
upon being paid, his memory of the project would be erased. On his last
three-year project, however, his corporate employers claim after his
memory is erased that he forfeited his massive payoff, and he has only
twenty clues from his recent past and some help from a romantic
co-worker in the form of Uma Thurman to spur his own investigation
while, of course, the corporation's goons attempt to kill him. The movie
was originally intended to be a suspenseful thriller, but it devolved
into more of a straight action chase, and audiences ridiculed the
picture despite awarding it with hefty returns. (Affleck in particular
was blasted for his poor performance.) Woo turned again to Hans Zimmer
for the picture, but the composer was insistent that the director once
again utilize the services of Media Ventures graduate John Powell, who
had supplied much of Woo's desired music for
Face/Off. Powell, in
return, overachieved for the wretched picture, supplying
Paycheck
with propulsive, futuristic score more symphonically dominant than
expected for a Woo feature. Powell had spent the majority of the
previous year engaged in the genre of romantic comedies, including the
laughable Affleck/Jennifer Lopez bomb,
Gigli. While
Paycheck was released on Christmas day in 2003 to a slightly
better response, the nail was ironically driven into the film's coffin
at roughly the same time as the announced break-up of America's
favorite, squeezable couple.
Powell's score for
Paycheck was a welcomed change
from the adequate but not particularly inspiring romance genre he
sustained in 2003. It helped introduce a strong, new action mode for the
composer that was far more accessible than his work for
The Italian
Job and
The Bourne Identity during roughly the same period,
one that laid the foundation for the
How to Train Your Dragon
scores. As to be expected,
Paycheck is a "race against time" kind
of score, only slowing down in brief respites to allow the listener to
catch his or her breath. Perhaps surprising to casual listeners of
Paycheck is the remarkable level of orchestral depth to the
music, especially when the atmosphere could just as easily have been
loaded up with synthesized bass and hard electronic percussion, as in
Powell's other mentioned thriller works of the era. Instead,
Paycheck is a score that takes a few moments to build its steam
before erupting into series of stylish rhythms and brass flair similar
to David Arnold's music for the James Bond franchise. The score is a
closer match, however, to Joel McNeely's
The Avengers and Klaus
Badelt's
Catwoman from that vintage, while the futuristic
elements have a touch of avant-garde mannerisms inspired by Don Davis'
The Matrix. There is a keen balance between suspense, romance,
and action in the work, though its highlights for most listeners will be
sequences of roaring rhythmic tonality for the full ensemble. That group
is dominated by strings and brass, joined by the standard accompaniment
of drums (synthesized and real), buried woodwinds, and accents like
piano and acoustic guitar. The composer's collectors will be thrilled by
the pinball machine-like percussion utilized here. Powell spent a
considerable amount of time experimenting with electronic accompaniment
that often sets the pacing in the score, an aspect that interestingly
stays rooted in the present rather than the future of the science
fiction genre. After these elements flourish in "Paycheck: Main Title
From the Motion Picture," though, the composer applies them
conservatively. The great, lively mix of the score is truly defined by
the symphonic passages, the synthetic loops and effects effectively
serving in a secondary role. Many of the lighter cues present strings
and piano in a purely organic fashion.
Arguably the downside of
Paycheck is its failure to
really establish a main theme for the concept. Powell devises identities
for the romantic portion, the evil corporation, and the conspiracy angle
in general, but the score is ultimately a series of attractive motifs
that struggle to form a cohesive narrative. Powell compensates with
fantastic execution of the demeanor as the story progresses, but the
themes are not always brought along for the ride. For instance, the
culminating "One Big Payback" at the end of the score offers great,
thematically inclined resolution material, but it doesn't directly sync
with the motifs heard before. The love theme in the score is left as its
de facto primary identity, which is basically sufficient but a bit odd.
It's not the most memorable theme, but it's still one of Powell's better
obscure identities. The idea understandably takes a while to develop,
fragmented in "Paycheck: Main Title From the Motion Picture" and "Memory
Wipe" before a preview of its intimate, string-based destiny in "Party
of Two." After faintly opening "Portents of Crystal Balls," the idea
goes full tilt into McNeely's
The Avengers mode, a glitzy and
cool highlight of the score. It returns for an elegant piano and flute
duet to start "A Second Chance," turning slightly lush on strings later.
It's accompanied by a snazzy rhythm at 1:35 into "Twenty Items,"
devolving into unfinished fragments that carry over to "Mirror Message."
A gorgeous piano and acoustic guitar rendition closes out the final
minute of "Reservations." In the clever "Impostor," the instrumentation
plays just as romantically but the actual theme isn't there. The
outrageously fun "Hog Chase Pt. 2" presents some of the score's best
performances of this love theme at 1:57, 2:15, and 3:42, the second
passage previewing the rowdy depth and enthusiasm of
How to Train
Your Dragon while the final passage is another dose of romance to
end the cue. Only the underlying chords occupy rolling piano in the
pretty "I Don't Remember," though "I Don't Remember (Alternate Version)"
offers a more direct, albeit brief phrase from the theme at 1:14. These
somber piano renditions continue at 1:01 into "Tomorrow's Headlines,"
its phrasing twisted as the cue continues. The theme informs the
suspenseful buildup at 2:36 into "Return to Allcom" and serves
underneath the crescendo to start "Future Tense" and in fragments at
4:20.
This primary theme of
Paycheck is sadly
underplayed in the score's final action material, faintly agonized on
strings in first minute of "Fait Accompli" though succumbing to a soft
piano interlude later. The conclusive "One Big Payback" presents the
theme with some satisfaction at 2:46 on acoustic guitar, but the idea is
translated into a fairly distinct, victorious offshoot at the end for
electric guitar. The score closes out with Powell's source-like string
quartet version of the theme in "Uma's Tune (Bonus Track)." Powell did
toy with a secondary theme of introspection in
Paycheck, conveyed
by piano during all of "A Good Life" and returning in "I Don't Remember
(Alternate Version)," though this alternative has no further impact.
There is a hip theme for the corporate villains of the tale, but the
idea loses cohesion in the score's second half, relying more on its
looped, synthetic style rather than its descending motific figures.
Hinted in the textures of "Paycheck: Main Title From the Motion
Picture," the theme is illuminated at the outset of "You're Done" and is
expanded to a bigger brass statement in first minute of "Hot Seat,"
after which the hip underlying rhythm returns. Related, skittish
descending figures on strings continue later until a Bond-like action
conclusion. The villain motif opens "Twenty Items" and returns at 3:53,
turning melodramatic by 0:43 into "Reservations." Fragments of the motif
define the revelatory statement at 7:59 into "Impostor." The motif
struggles to return later in the score, slight in the early rhythms of
"Return to Allcom" that rely more on the clapping and electric bass
effects. Those cool elements continue under suspense rhythms for strings
in "Future Tense," only fragments of the melody toying with espionage
coolness throughout its first half. The underlying rhythm continues in
the second minute of "Fait Accompli," developing into a tool of action;
the hip instrumentation returns at the end but with a more victorious
thematic presence on top. A conspiracy motif on strings exists
separately, congealing in the latter half of "Paycheck: Main Title From
the Motion Picture" and occupying most of "The Ring." It recurs in
"That's You," opens "The Third Rail," stutters at 1:26 into "Tomorrow's
Headlines," and faintly informs the early rhythms of "Return to Allcom."
Like the villain's theme, the conspiracy motif is not evenly applied to
the score, failing to really influence the final third of the
work.
Aside from these main recurring ideas in
Paycheck, Powell presents many melodic action passages worth
noting. Some of these recur, including one at 1:30 into "Hog Chase Pt.
1" that turns to background plucked rhythms at 4:24 into "Future Tense"
and adopts snazzy movement at 2:05 into "Bio Lab Bash." The memorable
"Hog Chase Pt. 2" cue offers its own idea at 0:16, 1:00, 1:21, the last
of which in overblown style on trumpets. Powell also presents a regular
revelation motif in descending string melodrama at 3:13 into "Tomorrow's
Headlines" (and even bigger at 3:47). It's overwrought again with slight
choir at 2:14 into "Return to Allcom," and another string rendition
awaits at 4:07 into "Future Tense." Altogether, these motifs supply
enough cohesive structure to the score for its narrative to survive, but
more could have been done to strengthen a few key ideas. While
Paycheck is a campy and fun listening experience after a few
muddled cues early, it remains the kind of work that begs for the
assembly of its highlights into a rousing compilation of Powell action
and romance superiority. Sadly, though, many of these best passages
won't be providing the same thematic identities despite using largely
the same instrumental colors and tone. The "Hog Chase Pt. 2" cue stands
as one of the top entries in the composer's entire career, but it is
partially built upon motifs that don't readily recur in the rest of the
score. For many listeners, these quibbles will not be of consequence, as
the score sounds fantastic in its vibrant mix and has more than enough
personality to carry the day. The most impressive aspect of Powell's
work here is likely the simple fact that he had made a habit of
providing strong scores for films that did not deserve such sweat, toil,
and talent. This issue was reinforced with
Gigli, and after the
lack of the success expected of
Paycheck, Powell's tendency to
compose music better than its accompanying films was becoming widely
noticed. This problem affected his career for the remainder of the
decade. As for
Paycheck, though, you can't go wrong with either
album offering. A 2004 Varèse Sarabande album of 48 minutes
presented most of the necessary highlights, though a 2021 CD Club
follow-up of 2,000 copies expanded the available music to over 100
minutes, and it's one of the rare circumstances in which the score is
strong enough to support such additional length. On either album,
Paycheck goes well beyond the usual level of unsophisticated
music you often heard in Woo's films.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For John Powell reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.28
(in 50 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.16
(in 52,492 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert of the 2004 Varèse album includes a list of
performers but no extra information about the score or film. That of
the 2021 product contains extensive details about both.
