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“Coming off such an intriguing effort, THE BLACK
DAHLIA, Mark Isham's NEXT is a disappointment.”
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Didn't See It
Coming
by Christopher Coleman
The action/suspense
genre is generally not
one that composer Mark
Isham delves into, so
his selection as
composer for the 2007
film, NEXT, is a
curious one.
With his very engaging
effort in 2006 for
THE BLACK DAHLIA,
there are those who
just didn't see a
score like this as his
next project.
While consistently
delivering evocative
scores for dramas such
as CRASH, A RIVER
RUNS THROUGH IT,
or OCTOBER SKY,
Lee Tamahori's flick
about a tormented,
two-bit, magician, who
can see a few moments
into the future,
doesn't seem like a
natural fit for Isham.
In NEXT, Los
Angeles has come under
the threat of a
nuclear detonation
(Again? I could have
sworn Jack Bauer took
care of this years
ago.) and Nicholas
Cage's character, Cris,
doesn't want to use
his unique abilities
to help the FBI and so
makes a run for it
with the aid of
actress Jessica Biel.
While the characters,
nor the motivations of
our league o'
terrorists, are truly
fleshed out, the
premise should have
provided a substantial
canvas from which an
intriguing score could
be built.
Sadly, NEXT,
with its few moments
of entertainment,
fails and Mark Isham's
score does little to
help it out. The score
is not terrible, but
sounds completely
uninspired. Check
that. It does sounds
inspired, just not by
the movie it was
written for. The
opening of the
soundtrack comes with
the same foggy,
mystery-like feel as
David Julyan's work
for THE PRESTIGE...but
as your attention is
focused squarly on one
hand, a switcheroo
takes place. Before
the track ends the
score turns to it's
main theme. Isham's
main theme is one the
more distinct elements
of the score. In
addition to "8:09"
(1), you'll find it
quoted in "Destiny"
(3) and "A Few Minutes
of Your Time" (6). The
promise that the theme
might have shown
erodes at the
realization that this
soft-piano theme
appears to be inspired
by Harold
Faltermeyer's title
theme from THE
RUNNING MAN. Again
not a bad theme, not
even a direct
rip...but its too
close to NOT remind
one of Arnold
Schwarzenegger wearing
led-covered-tights,
running for his life.
The majority of the
score plays like a
mash-up of
Rabin-Powell-Elfmanisms
and not really doing
any one of them
justice. I can't bring
myself to call this
"bad" score, but
NEXT falls into
some nondescript
category of
soundtrack. Unless one
is a truly dedicated
Isham fan, this score
won't find too many
repeat listens. What
is more likely to
happen is that over
the course of a couple
years, one might come
across this CD release
in their library or in
the soundtrack aisle
and scratch their head
in wonder at what it
sounds like...even if
they have heard it
before.
Coming off such an
intriguing effort,
THE BLACK DAHLIA,
Mark Isham's NEXT
is a disappointment.
Many scores have
overcome the
limitations of a bad
script, but the music
for NEXT just doesn't
get there. If
you're desperately
looking for something
in the
time-touching-genre,
then DE JA VU
is a better choice for
both score and film.
I will give credit to
Mark Isham for
venturing out a little
and hopefully he'll
continue to do so.
NEXT might, at
least, prove to be a
nice springboard into
the genre and lead to
more interesting
listens in the near
future, but for it's
general lack of
distinctiveness,
NEXT loses a point
and drops to a 5/10
rating.
Rating: 5/10
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Track |
Track Title |
Track Time |
Rating |
|
1 |
8:09 |
2:10 |
*** |
|
2 |
Give Me Two
Minutes |
3:19 |
*** |
|
3 |
Destiny |
2:07 |
*** |
|
4 |
Pier
18 |
3:37 |
*** |
|
5 |
Carlotti
Defines |
2:50 |
*** |
| 6 |
A Few Minutes of Your Time |
3:19 |
*** |
| 7 |
Multiple Point Surveillance |
2:34 |
*** |
| 8 |
Who Knows What's Safe |
4:04 |
*** |
| 9 |
Breaking News |
4:08 |
*** |
| 10 |
Second and Broadway |
2:44 |
*** |
| 11 |
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished |
2:06 |
*** |
| 12 |
Looking for a License Plate |
2:09 |
*** |
| 13 |
Shadow Group |
2:04 |
*** |
| 14 |
All Elements Execute! |
2:05 |
*** |
| 15 |
A Show of Character |
3:39 |
*** |
| 16 |
I Believe Anything's Possible |
3:41 |
*** |
| |
Total Running Time (approx) |
46 minutes |
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