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“...FROST/NIXON
isn't the type of score that film music fans will be clamoring to get a
hold of...it is just the type of film and score that tend to make
their way to all sorts of nomination lists. Just like the film, the
score is serviceable but it is difficult to shake the feeling the
both could have been much more. ”
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The Dark Thread of Nixon
Review by Christopher Coleman
Director Ron Howard's latest effort, FROST/NIXON explores the story behind
the most watched television interview in history - the interview of
resigned President Nixon by British television host/personality, David
Frost. Howard explores the untold story behind the formulation of the
contract between the two and each man's motivations for doing it. Somewhat
surprisingly, Howard chose composer Hans Zimmer to provide the musical
backdrop for the film. I say "surprisingly" because of the type of film
FROST/NIXON is. This isn't a suspense thriller like THE DA VINCI CODE or
ANGELS AND DEMONS, where the talents of ZIMMER make good sense. Instead it
is very intimate presentation; almost on an indy-film level. It's a
film that just doesn't immediately evoke the thought of HANS ZIMMER. In
the end, those who were of age to remember the Frost-Nixon interview (and
old enough to understand and care), this film will likely be of high
interest. For those outside of that population, FROST/NIXON might be
difficult to connect to and Zimmer's aptly subdued score is unlikely to
push the masses to go out and grab this soundtrack either.
FROST/ NIXON has quite a few things going for it among them: the mystery
of this untold story, its director, and its actors. The story behind the
David Frost interviews with President Richard Nixon is an intriguing one.
Ron Howard has shown that he can do the intimate portrait stories like
CINDERELLA MAN or A BEAUTIFUL MIND and, while this story is of a
different nature, his past successes lends confidence that he could well
handle the portrayal of these events. For FROST/NIXON, Howard recreates
the world of the late 1970's and presents the film more like a documentary
than a drama. With both Michael Sheen as David Frost and Frank Langella as
Richard Nixon, having starred in the award-winning stage-play written by
Peter Morgan, these characters were ones that they were quite familiar
with and able to bring screen-life to. Their performances are receiving
award-buzz already; however, how worthy these performances are is
debateable. To appreciate their performances it seems Howard expects that
his audience is either familiar with the stage-play or are already
familiar with these historical characters to a significant degree. For
those, like me, who remember the event, but was too young to really
comprehend what was going on or even care, too much time has passed and
not enough is done within the film to truly connect these characters to
the audience. One last asset, albeit a surprising one, is the employment
of HANS ZIMMER as the score's composer. Certainly jumping outside of his
milieu, FROST/NIXON provides the prolific composer with a different kind
of subject matter for which he must interpret musically.
Before diving into Zimmer's score, let's go back a few years. No. Not back
to the mid-Seventies, but to the mid-Nineties. One of Oliver Stone's best
works was the 1995 film NIXON. It's epic scale and powerful performances
help to garner it 4 Oscar nominations. Among those four was one for JOHN
WILLIAMS' poignant score. For those that saw the film and have enjoyed
William's score, it is hard not to think of either before, during and
after their viewing of FROST/NIXON. As it turns out NIXON sits in stark
contrast to Ron Howard and Hans Zimmer's film. NIXON was huge in scope.
FROST/NIXON is small and personal, but both film's had a thread of
darkness running through them. While very different from one another, just
as the film's are connected by the central character, so these two scores
are connected by this dark thread. Zimmer's minimalist approach to Ron
Howard's film is the only one that would fit, which is what makes the
selection of Hans Zimmer somewhat surprising. No doubt, Zimmer's voice
comes through but there are other moments that seem tailored to the
talents of a Phillip Glass, Alexandre Desplat, Thomas Newman, or even a
James Horner.
We are introduced to all of the main ingredients in first couple of
tracks. Track 1, "Watergate" is dark and heavy strings provide the
backbone and establish the dark-thread immediately - like The Da Vinci
Code lite. Zimmer increases the tension through cellos and piano,
exchanging performance of a quick rising and falling motif which serves as
the score's most consistent segment and could be called it's main theme.
Zimmer makes good use of the motif in some of the score's most intense
moments: "Research Montage" (7) and the finale "Nixon Defeated" (8), where
we hear a very mournful performance of the motif on cello.
Coursing in the background of several tracks, beginning with "Watergate,"
we perceive a light but methodical "clicking" as if the entire movie is
sitting on a time-bomb. This "clicking" device is used throughout the
score and will be familiar to those fans of Zimmer's contribution to
BATMAN BEGINS and THE DARK KNIGHT. This percussive device is another
consistency of the score and it can be found in tracks with a wide range
of textures. While it is clearly of the pensive/suspenceful variety in
track 1, we hear it begin the track but become overlaid with countless
other chromatics, bass, strings and piano, in "Beverly Hilton" (3) - one
of the more upbeat pieces. Later in "Money" (6) the dark-thread becomes
more pronounced again as cellos and heartbeat-like bass surround this
"clock" element. "Money" is a good example of FROST/NIXON feeling much
more contemporary than one might expect for a film depicting events of the
1970s, but it merely opens the door to the most contemporary track of this
promo, "Research Montage" (7). This track would be right at home in modern
warfare world of THE BOURNE IDENTITY or even the game franchise CALL OF
DUTY. Such diversion calls attention to the point that there are likely
others who have contributed to this work which, this time, only bears the
name of "Hans Zimmer."
2008 has certainly been another busy year for HANS ZIMMER. For those that
love to hate the work of Hans Zimmer or even his composing process, it's
hard to argue that he isn't continuing to branch out into new genres.
He already has efforts like KUNG FU PANDA, THE DARK KNIGHT, and MADAGASCAR
2 under his belt, but FROST/NIXON might be his most surprising this year.
On the one hand, it's a score that sadly disappears into the collective
weight of the film. Of course, we are told that this "disappearing"
is the intent of a film score and I agree...to a point. Now, on the
other hand, I also believe a film score can, and when necessary, should
lift a film when it becomes flat. FROST/NIXON does have such moments of
"flatness" but Zimmer's score doesn't come to the rescue. Varèse
Sarabande's official release offers an additional six tracks, but evenso,
FROST/NIXON isn't the type of score that film music fans will clamoring to
get a hold of. Ironically, it remains just the type of film and
score that tend to make their way to all sorts of nomination lists. Like
the film, the score is serviceable but it is difficult to shake the
feeling that it could have been much more.
Rating:
6/10
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Track |
Track Title |
Track Time |
Rating |
|
1 |
Watergate |
4:37 |
*** |
|
2 |
Last Day |
2:32 |
*** |
|
3 |
Beverly
Hilton |
2:31 |
*** |
|
4 |
Insanely
Risky |
2:54 |
*** |
|
5 |
Frost
Despondent |
2:30 |
*** |
| 6 |
Money |
2:56 |
** |
| 7 |
Research Montage |
3:08 |
*** |
| 8 |
Nixon Defeated |
3:26 |
*** |
| |
Total Running Time (approx) |
25 minutes |
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