The Mexican
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Composer: Alan Silvestri
Lable (Release Year): Decca Records (2001) Availability: **** Rating: *** |
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Alan Silvestri remains as one of the busiest film composers. However, the trend of releasing his score is quite surprising. Of his last 7 scores (not including this one), only 1, yes 1, got a score release. Holy Man, Practical Magic, Stuart Little, Reindeer Game, Cast Away, and What Women Want have all gone to dust. I realize some of the entire scores are quite short but there must be something can be done. Anyway, back to The Mexican. Silvestri reunites with director Gore Verbinski since his Mouse Hunt of 97. Silvestri composed a fun filled half western and half modern score. Silvestri composed many great and fun motifs. However, it seems the film does not allow his to compose a long passage to build them up or weave them together. As you can see from the listing, all score tracks last only a minute or two. Silvestri is no stranger to western. His score to The Quick and the Dead is the most notable. The score begins with an impressive Ennio Morricone/"The man with no name" type Western theme with solo trumpet. While I hope it could last longer, it ends in a hurry and shifts gear to a comical harmonica theme "Blame Shifting." The theme as if it is saying "I would like to change my life but it is out of my hand and there is nothing that I can do." The theme also lasted not too long and we hear the third theme "Oye". It is actually a very upbeat Mexican dance song sung and co-composed by Abraham Laboriel. The slightly longer version can be heard in track 13 "Oye, Oye". All three are enjoyable theme. Very unfortunately, they all only appear briefly hereafter and they were never build up. "10% Clint" is another piece of great, fun, and Morricone like western music. Definitely my favorite track. "Leroy's Morning" introduces the only poignant theme of the score. There are a few other motifs and I will not described them here. The themes and motifs are there but they are never fully played out, except for "It's cursed, that Gun" where "Main Title" is fully developed. It seems like an awful waste. The Mexican is like an appetizer, it will give you craving for more but does not satisfy you. A good CD for Silvestri fans but probably not for all film music fans. The CD also features a few classic oldies. | |
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