Composed by Christopher Young
Orchestrated Pete Anthon, Bruce Babcock,
Christopher Young
Produced by Konstantinos Christides, Flavio Motalla, Christopher Young
Released by Intrada  July 2000

Q-Review

With each successive review of a Christopher Young crafted score, I become evermore convinced of his versatility.  He simply refuses to copy himself.  If he does at all, it is likely only known to himself and the very astute music critic.  One need only constrast two of his more recent projects:  The Gift and Wonder Boys.

The Gift is a spine-tingling, beautiful score, written and performed for a full sized orchestra.  Wonder Boys, on the other hand, is primarily a strongly jazz-influenced score with a number of other ingredients such as: folk and blues.  While Young has done a number of scores of the same vein: The Hurricane and Judas Kiss, to name a couple, Wonder Boys takes on its own unique  personality.

The Bottom Line

Wonder Boys can prove a little quirky from time to time, I'm sure to reflect those quirks found in the film's storyline and characters.  Young mixes in a couple of surprises for this score: tap/flamenco dancers and a lead accordion.  They are interesting elements to include and do perk ones ears up for a moment, but aren't enough to make this score linger in one's head for very long.

It is likely that Young' score for Wonder Boys will probably not prove to have as widespread appeal as The Gift, or as the soundtrack featuring the Golden Globe winning song from Bob Dylan. Wonder Boys is adequate for the film, but I prefer Young's work for Judas Kiss and if I was looking to scratch that jazz itch, would likely pull that score out first.  For true fans of Christopher Young's jazz compositions; however, Wonder Boys is a warranted acquisition.

Score

Rating: 4/10

4/10

5/10