Ocean's Eleven: (David Holmes) If anyone had any
doubt about whether the likable 1960 crime caper
Ocean's Eleven
could be remade with the same sense of humor and character appeal in the
context of the 2000's, director Steven Soderbergh answered those
concerns with a remake so well executed that it led to multiple sequels
later in the decade. There really isn't much depth to the premise of
Ocean's Eleven; a master thief of high sophistication and devious
creativity assembles a group of other thieves, most with a very unique
specialty in the trade, to rob one of the most impenetrable vaults in
Las Vegas, one that happens to be owned by a mafia strongman who is
dating the criminal's former wife. The actual preparation for and
completion of the heist are not really the point of the film. Rather,
the personalities of the men involved, and their interaction with each
other, is the focus of
Ocean's Eleven. A stellar cast of big
names is key to the success of this film, anchored by George Clooney in
one of his most suave and surprisingly engrossing roles. The concept
flips the usual definitions of good and evil and so thoroughly endears
viewers to the quirky but professional thieves that you can't help but
like the personality of the production. With the throwback style of
storytelling and visuals firmly resurrecting memories of the original
film, Soderbergh sought to insert a musical ambience equally retro in
tone. His use of licensed songs in
Ocean's Eleven is part of its
appeal, though for the original score, he turned to Irish DJ and mixing
master David Holmes, with whom he had collaborated successfully for
Out of Sight in 1998 and whose name in the 2000's film score
scene was associated almost completely with precisely this form of retro
funk and jazz. Between his efforts in the
Analyze This and
Ocean's Eleven franchises, his voice in the industry was largely
unique during the 2000's. He single-handedly rejuvenated the style of
music provided by Quincy Jones and others readily in the 1970's, and he
applied it to smart comedies with no effort to modernize its sound in
any form. That technique restricted his name to an exact stereotype that
gained him more interest from the mainstream population than film score
collectors, however. That said, there is no doubt that Holmes'
resurrection of the most hip sounds of the 1970's functions perfectly
for the similarly cool atmosphere of
Ocean's Eleven.
The structures of Holmes' music for this film aren't
complicated by any means. Even the performances featuring greater
instrumental depth still repeat loops without much development. The
attraction of this score instead rests in the flair of the
instrumentation and the individual performances. Lounge band
instruments, aided by Hammond organ, vibraphone, and other elements of
the genre offer the necessary ambience even in simple, looped
progressions. Later in the score, roles for a string section and brass
accents form some dramatic base for the film's love story and the
culmination of the gang's efforts ("Tess" and "$160 Million Chinese
Man," respectively), but the ensemble is generally intimate and low key.
No thematic continuity is really necessary in an environment like this
because the confident, spirited rhythms accomplish the same goal. For
scenes in the narrative that require a boost of adrenaline, the composer
simply ratchets up the tempo and evokes more performance emphasis from
certain soloists. Holmes never really explored any significant
development of motif until
Ocean's Thirteen in 2007, his first
two scores in the franchise sort of winging it on flair alone.
Interestingly, several of the most poignant scenes in
Ocean's
Eleven use unoriginal music not related to Holmes' style whatsoever.
One of these is "Theme for Young Lovers" by Percy Faith and his
Orchestra, associated with the fractured but eventually repaired
relationship between Clooney and Julia Roberts. Most striking is the use
of the classical Claude Debussy piece "Clair de Lune" from Suite
Bergamesque over the concluding scene in which the group contemplates
its accomplishments in front of the Bellagio fountain. This fluid,
romantic string performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra speaks to the
grand scope of the crime in a romantic voice, and its employment
overshadows Holmes' original work in memory. The retail album release
for
Ocean's Eleven will be frustrating for enthusiasts of the
score, though the product does contain all of the essential pieces heard
in the film, including non-original songs that don't fail to honor Elvis
Presley. Most of the score, with the exception of a few of the longer,
more important cues, is mixed with dialogue from the film, sometimes to
such great lengths that the cues become a bit pointless if you're
attempting to appreciate the music alone. The script of
Ocean's
Eleven is enjoyable enough that the album becomes a satisfying
souvenir from the film, though purists will prefer a 34-track, 48-minute
Warner Brothers awards promo with only Holmes' score. Since the music is
so repetitious, though, the retail format may actually improve the
listening experience.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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The insert of neither album includes extra information about the score or film.
