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Review of The River Wild (Jerry Goldsmith/Maurice Jarre)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... on the 2015 2-CD set containing both Jerry Goldsmith and
Maurice Jarre's average adventure scores for this film, a fascinating
experience of two different, moderately engaging takes on the same
picture.
Avoid it... on any album if you are a Goldsmith collector interesting in hearing the most mature versions of all the ideas conveyed by the composer in this score, in which case The Edge is a safer bet.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
The River Wild: (Jerry Goldsmith/Maurice Jarre) If
the disturbing classic film Deliverance is the guys' late-night,
squeal-like-a-pig version of the "city folk go into nature only to
discover that man is the true enemy" formula, then Curtis Hanson's
The River Wild of 1994 is the somewhat family friendly midday
interpretation of the same idea. Instead of Appalachia, the scene this
time is Montana (known affectionately by its residents as "the last best
place to hide"), where a former river guide from the area played by
Meryl Streep takes her now city-dwelling family on a rafting vacation to
her old haunts. Luckily for them, three malicious goons get into another
raft and follow the family like a group of predators. Eventually there
are hostages, unbelievable and frustrating twists of plot, and
ultimately, of course, the need to run the "Gauntlet," a particularly
nasty portion of river that only true professionals can navigate. Then
again, if you're going to rid yourself of those pesky bad guys, led by
Kevin Bacon in a comfortable role, then you'll need to provide the
audience with that inevitable feat of spandex-ripping stress. Despite
the film's gorgeous scenery and a heady performance by Streep, the holes
and stretches in the plotline doomed the picture. Unable to save the day
this time was composer Jerry Goldsmith, whose collaboration with Hanson
remains better remembered for the popular L.A. Confidential
several years later. Goldsmith's tenure on The River Wild was a
last-minute adventure in and of itself, however, and the hands of
unsatisfied studio executives caused the soundtrack for the project to
become a Big Sky-sized headache. The film had originally been scored in
totality by legendary veteran Maurice Jarre, who toiled through
countless re-writes of various cues in the score for Hanson before the
executives, citing poor test screenings, dropped Jarre's music
completely (without asking the composer for any further alterations).
This despite Jarre's professed affection for the film and his
willingness to spice up the suspense portions, which were apparently the
issue that doomed his work. In stepped Goldsmith, who tackled the film
to his own stylistic norms with superior results compared to Jarre's
contribution but Goldsmith likewise became the target of extensively
rejected material that threatened his music in the film as well. There
was no winning for anyone here.
While respect must be paid to Jarre for his excellent career in tackling epics of natural immensity, The River Wild wasn't one his better efforts. He wrote an expansive primary theme for nature itself, a rousing and impressive identity that by itself is more entertaining than anything Goldsmith wrote for the picture. But how Jarre applied it to the film isn't particularly satisfying, its bloated dramatic scope not really connecting with the characters and adapting poorly to the suspense and action of the score. It is in this more frantic half of the work that Jarre truly struggled, his suspense material relying upon walls of dissonance of various volumes to convey angst. Still, in this and the melodic portions, there is more Lawrence of Arabia to be heard in this score than expected, especially in the application of percussion. Jarre recorded several variations of the "Reunion" cue at the end of the story, and each of these, along with his opening scene cues, states the main theme with gloriously resounding depth. Despite applicability issues with these passages, they are more singularly impressive on album than anything Goldsmith provided for The River Wild despite the better melodic cohesion, pacing, and ambience of Goldsmith's approach in sum. Goldsmith provided tones reminiscent of the similar but more compelling music he would supply for the outdoors in both Medicine Man and The Edge in the same era. One of Hanson's requests of Goldsmith was that he adapt the traditional tune "The Water is Wide" into the primary identity of his original score, a move not taken by Jarre. In fact, Jarre only adapted the tune into a short sequence of the credits after the song version, and given how well he interpreted, and in a few cases manipulated, the melody, it's a shame he hadn't done more with it. For Goldsmith, this theme became the wholesome, sensitive representation of the family in between the moments of tension in the middle and later portions of the picture. To popularize the film, the light rock/country group "Cowboy Junkies" was brought in to arrange and perform this traditional tune as well, a move that was starting to become typical of studio mentality in the 1990's. Ironically, the vocal performances in the case of The River Wild aren't likely to be the reason for listeners' negative reaction to the music in the film and on album. There is nothing structurally wrong with Goldsmith's score for The River Wild, but it wholly redundant in the composer's career, with far superior variations of every aspect of this score in his other projects. Goldsmith's adaptation of "The Water is Wide" for the family in The River Wild is handled with a light heart by the composer's usual flute and string-based sensibilities, solo trumpet performances gracing the beginning and end of the score to fortify the independent spirit of Streep's character. The theme isn't remarkably different from an original Goldsmith idea (he admitted that he wishes he had written it), rolling the sentiment of Rudy and Matinee into a predictable, soft package with little in merit to discuss other than the tune's basic, affable effectiveness in this context. Goldsmith largely abandons the melody as the score progresses towards its suspense motif, which itself is also lacking a particularly interesting structure when compared to similar ideas that would mature in The Edge. He creates tension with short bursts of rhythm from brass followed by extended whole notes, and without any unique instrumentation, the process becomes tiresome after just a few minutes. In "Little Niagra," however, Goldsmith does allow the blasts to develop characteristics similar to Michael Kamen's climax to Die Hard (and that score's "falling motif" most specifically), but once again without any particularly interesting variation in execution. It's fitting that Goldsmith decided not to score nature itself to the same degree he would in The Edge (or as Jarre did here), but then again, he didn't tackle the malevolence of the evil humans with the electronic bombast that he used so effectively in Medicine Man, either. Overall, despite undoubtedly earning his pay for his last-minute replacement work, Goldsmith was flat with this one, leaving possible avenues of creativity unexplored. The only other issue of note involves the Cowboy Junkies song. While Goldsmith collectors may consider their light guitar, electric bass, harmonica, percussion, and vocals an unnecessary distraction, it is actually their presence that distinguishes The River Wild. Michael Timmins' adaptation the tune and Margo Timmins' soft, inviting vocals in the song performances fit well with Goldsmith's variation on the same idea, and the mixing of the song edit and the orchestral ensemble in "Family Reunion" is very well arranged. Aided by two superb transitions between score and song in that end titles track, the shorter album was recommendable. A delightful presentation of both the complete Goldsmith and rejected Jarre scores was provided in 2015 by Intrada Records, though, and no film music enthusiast should be without this outstanding product. It's a fascinating listening experience, and in appreciating the highlights of Jarre's main theme, one cannot blame him for retiring from Hollywood after being replaced by Goldsmith on both this and First Knight the next year. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
1994 BMG/RCA Album:
Total Time: 38:57
* performed by Cowboy Junkies ** contains segment performed by Cowboy Junkies 2015 Intrada Album: Total Time: 154:58
* performed by Cowboy Junkies ** contains segment performed by Cowboy Junkies
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert of the 1994 album includes no extra information about the score
or film. That of the 2015 Intrada set contains lengthy notation about both.
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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 The River Wild are Copyright © 1994, 2015, BMG Music/RCA Victor, Intrada Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 5/31/98 and last updated 12/5/15. |
