FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW

Review of The Usual Suspects (John Ottman)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you are curious about the creatively intelligent, lyrical suspense score that served as John Ottman's mainstream debut.

Avoid it... if Ottman's knack for complicated, troubled thriller music makes you shiver, and if only one elegant title theme of significant memorability isn't enough to hold your interest.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

The Usual Suspects: (John Ottman) Few films offer the superior level of intelligence in writing as The Usual Suspects, a 1995 crime thriller and mystery that grips you in its ambiguity from beginning to end. Its surprisingly deep cast, remarkable writing, and frightening sonic ambience all make for an ultra-creepy film that continued to achieve cult status more than a decade after its release. Jokes about the character Keyser Sšze are a delicious part of modern movie culture, and the performance of actor Kevin Spacey earned him a ticket to the forefront of the industry. The film remains one of the most deceptively manipulative in its age, incredibly concealing its surprise ending with effective obscurity until its fantastic moment of realization in its concluding scene. The film was the second collaboration between director Bryan Singer and composer/editor John Ottman, with their first project being the largely unknown film Public Access just previous to The Usual Suspects. The composer/editor hybrid is very rare in the professional industry, mostly because the two tasks traditionally required different sets of skills and a whole lot of time. On the other hand, having a single composer and editor for a film allows that individual to produce a perfect fit between film and score, avoiding the usual difficulties with awkward score cuts and butchering at the hands of the film editors. Ottman was also the composer and editor for Public Access, and he would continue to serve in such a dual role for projects eventually as large as X2: X-Men United. In the case of the music for The Usual Suspects, despite its ultimate success in context, the score was really a strong example of how not to attempt to record the music for your film. With the film on a strict budget, Ottman couldn't afford to record the performing sections of the ensemble all at once.

Facing these constraints, the strings, woodwinds, brass, harp, and various percussion for The Usual Suspects all had to be recorded separately in a room that could barely fit the 38 string players by themselves. The studio had no screen with which to coordinate the performance with the scenes, either. Then, Ottman had the Herculean task of putting all of these elements in sync, verifying that their tempi met the requirements of each scene. To everyone's relief and amazement, it actually worked. In the process of performing this task, however, Ottman became accustomed to using the method of multiple-passing in editing that masks the small size of an ensemble by simply overlapping the same performance over itself multiple times. Other composers in Ottman's position (including Mark McKenzie) have brilliantly used this technique for years, especially for situations involving inadequate string sections. The resulting effect gives the score a more robust sound, indeed, but it also adds to the harmonic nature of the score's romantic appeal because the ensemble sounds as though it's playing in remarkably tight union. The use of instrumentation and editing in The Usual Suspects, and particularly in its creative implementation for the thriller genre, was not as mature as it would be by 1998's Incognito. And yet, Ottman still managed to pull off a highly lyrical score, matching the waltz-like movements of the unpredictable plot and presenting a film noir angle on the story's intrigue. The suspense in the score isn't entirely riveting, for its volume is rarely heightened in a particularly tense position for very long, but it works in an unconventional sense by twisting themes, construing strings in unusual performances, and offering percussive elements in seemingly illogical places. The piano's always alluring performances offer a stylish sophistication to the environment, sometimes trickling like water in the background.

Some passages translate better to album than others, and yet, analyzing The Usual Suspects is difficult to do without characterizing the successful merging of its individual elements into a cohesive whole. For collectors of Ottman's matured work, the two performances of the piano-inclined title theme at the beginning and end of the score offer a delightfully wicked and elegant theme (which has been performed in live concert). A secondary motif is used a few times in the middle of the score for moments of grand revelation, and this crescendo of orchestral power represents the memorable music you likely heard in the film. The two highlight cues, "The Killing of a Rat" and "The Greatest Trick" accompany vital scenes in the film with a dark spirit of vigor. Slight electronic effects contribute to the cloudy atmosphere at times, and the octave-descending effect in "A Gift" is chilling. Starting in "Payback Time," Ottman uses a metronome effect much like John Williams' for JFK to propel the narrative. The recording of solo woodwinds, while only contributing in a minor role, is well handled by the composer. The album finishes with a solo piano performance of the Claude Debussy piece "Sounds and Perfumes Whirl in the Evening Wind." Overall, it's a remarkable package even if you don't stop to consider the adversity that Ottman faced when producing this music in the first place. There is no single thematic or instrumental moment in the score that alone gives this work its appeal; rather, its extremely consistent sense of style in all of its moments, represented by its opening and closing thematic statements, create a whole that very effectively accompanies the picture (and provides a balanced listening experience on album) without imbalanced or undue attention to any part. The Usual Suspects had a long-lasting effect on Ottman, who would continue to utilize unconventional recording techniques thereafter, often with impressive success. No collector of his music should overlook this fascinating mainstream debut for the composer.  ****

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 53:32

• 1. Main Theme (3:41) • 2. Getting on Board (2:56) • 3. The Story Begins (1:09) • 4. Payback Time (1:39) • 5. Farewell Fenster (0:45) • 6. "He's Here!" (1:48) • 7. The Garage (2:25) • 8. Verbal Kint (2:09) • 9. Keyser Appears (2:34) • 10. "It Was Beautiful" (1:18) • 11. The Arrests (1:17) • 12. Redfoot (1:39)

• 13. New York's Finest (1:43) • 14. Kobayashi's Domain (2:22) • 15. The Killing of a Rat (3:29) • 16. "I Work for Keyser Söze" (1:37) • 17. The Faces of his Family (1:45) • 18. The Plan Begins (1:56) • 19. Back to the Pier (3:37) • 20. Casing the Boat (1:55) • 21. A Gift (1:39) • 22. The Greatest Trick (3:15) • 23. The Water (2:33) • 24. Les Sons et les Parfums Tournent Dans L'Air du Soir* (3:30)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes a note about the score from director Bryan Singer.

Copyright © 2003-2024, Filmtracks Publications. All rights reserved.
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 Usual Suspects are Copyright © 1995, Milan Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 9/7/03 and last updated 4/4/09.