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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Something to Talk About (Hans Zimmer/Graham Preskett)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you seek a more genuine and intimate variation on Hans
Zimmer's wild hoedown material from Thelma & Louise and Cool
Runnings.
Avoid it... if banjos, Hammond organs, guitars, and harmonicas in bouncing Western rhythms of bright, exuberant character are exactly what you're typically trying to escape when seeking Zimmer's otherwise brawny music of the middle to late 1990's.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Something to Talk About: (Hans Zimmer/Graham
Preskett) Despite its promising cast, Lasse Hallstrom's 1995 romantic
comedy was a flop because the film turned out to be nothing worth
talking about. Julia Roberts is the center of attention, the story
telling of her interactions with family members as she tries to
determine if she could reconcile with her (inexplicably) philandering
husband. No real spark between her and Dennis Quaid on screen was as
fatal as lazy performances by Robert Duvall and Gena Rowlands in roles
as her parents. Only Kyra Sedgewick, who plays her usual feisty self as
the sister in the family, was recognized at awards time for her
performance. The family drama takes place against the backdrop of their
equestrian pursuits, so audience members interested in grand prix horse
jumping contests at least had a few distractions in between boring
conversational scenes. Hallstrom would later collaborate with composers
Rachel Portman and Christopher Young for his more highly acclaimed
projects of the late 1990's and early 2000's, though for Something to
Talk About he turned to Hans Zimmer and his red-hot Media Ventures
production house. Zimmer only had two weeks to write and record a score
for Something to Talk About because his production schedules on
Crimson Tide and Ninth Months ran past their expected time
frames. He therefore turned to Media Ventures arranger Graham Preskett
to assist him in finishing on time. Preskett was associated with several
Zimmer and Mark Mancina scores in the mid-1990's, usually as an
orchestrator or arranger, though his collaboration with Zimmer extended
to a few projects in the 2000's. The score for Something to Talk
About was at something of a disadvantage to begin with because the
film's title reflects the famous Bonnie Raitt song of 1991 and the
movie's soundtrack features that recording. Zimmer had made a career out
of weaving between song placements for these sorts of underachieving
dramas and comedies throughout the early 1990's, and Something to
Talk About (along with The Preacher's Wife the following
year) in many ways represented the final hurrah for the composer as he
transitioned into his blockbuster phase and handed assignments like this
one off in totality to his assistants. As such, it's a pleasant epilogue
to an era when Zimmer's music was comfortably contemporary and arguably
more original.
Zimmer and Preskett go overboard with their approach to the rural Southern location of Something to Talk About, utilizing many country music elements in their light-hearted and somewhat shallow score. A handful of exuberant soloists dominate the soundscape, led by guitars, banjo, percussion, Hammond organ, piano, dobra, bass, violin, and piano. Depth in the recording is contributed by Zimmer's usual keyboarded backing in the form of minimal orchestral samples and contemporary light rock. The project gave the composer one last collaboration with his duo of electric guitar favorites, Pete Haycock and Bob Daspit, in a limited role. The demeanor of Something to Talk About rests somewhere in between the upbeat road trip portions of Thelma & Louise and the overblown, jaunty hoedown material for Cool Runnings. Nothing quite as hopelessly optimistic in a Western setting has ever come from Zimmer, despite the fact that the underlying thematic progressions are recognizable as being from his pen. For some listeners, the bubbly and bright tone of this music, along with the stereotypical instrumentation to represent anything having something to do with horses in current times, will simply be too irritating in its saturation of that style. There are several slow conversational scenes that feature piano and light percussion, though these sequences aren't as consistently soothing as what Zimmer and his assistants would provide for Something's Gotta Give. Thematically, Something to Talk About features two ideas at the forefront. The first is the outright wild and occasionally slightly bluesy theme in "Kings of Carolina" and "Southern Comfort," likely for the locale. Then there's a theme for Roberts' character, and this is where the score's most attractive performances result. Heard throughout "Grace" and in portions of "Tall Horses," this theme very curiously foreshadows the melody of one of Stephen Flaherty's songs for the forthcoming Fox animation Anastasia; the similarities are so clear that the theme may be distracting in a negative way for some. The bulk of the stylish electric guitar performances come in the "Grace" cue as well. The album for Something to Talk About, which does not contain the Raitt song, is a scant 37 minutes long and actually outstays its welcome. That said, Zimmer and Preskett took an appropriately conservative, upbeat route for this film and the album could be condensed to ten to fifteen minutes of material that will well compliment the collection of any enthusiast of Zimmer's early work. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 36:56
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
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