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Review of Article 99 (Danny Elfman)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you have always loved Danny Elfman's early film music
but have never heard any of Article 99, because this pleasant,
lightweight score will make you nostalgic for that period.
Avoid it... if you have no interest in hearing Elfman sleepwalk through redemptive melodies while revisiting shadows of the trademarks that made his other scores of that era so great.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Article 99: (Danny Elfman) Issues of fair treatment
for American veterans of war are a serious subject, especially when it
comes to the care of those injured in the line of fire. Scandals have
helped to illuminate the need to more funding of these services, but
back in 1992, veterans with battlefield wounds and complications
extending beyond them were in a particularly shunned position. Howard
Deutch's movie of that year, Article 99, sought to raise
awareness of this government oversight while also entertaining crowds. A
solid cast in the roles of creatively devious doctors highlights a
script about a Kansas City veterans' hospital in disrepair, the kind of
facility that makes those stricken by war wish they had never survived.
The director only cares about minimizing the budget, leaving the doctors
no choice but to falsify records and go to their own heroic measures to
meet the needs of their patients. Unfortunately, Article 99 also
attempted to be a comedy from start to finish, formulating television
sitcom-like dialogue that pressed for laughs far too often. The
consequent cheapening of the subject caused the film to be almost
universally pummeled by critics, and the production only grossed about
$6 million before fading away into obscurity. The score for Article
99 has proven to be just as obscure for composer Danny Elfman, in
part likely because of issues relating to the circumstances of rights
eliminating the chance for a sampling of this score to appear on the
composer's popular "Music for a Darkened Theatre" compilations of the
1990's. It was Elfman's first feature, solo score after a year of
absence following his wildly popular Edward Scissorhands,
sneaking onto album just a few months prior to his hyped return to the
bright spotlight with Batman Returns. A quickly out of print
album didn't help this score's cause, though a certain amount of
indifference towards this music also probably arises due to the score's
functional but not overwhelming stature. Expectations for Elfman at the
time were sky high, and Article 99 seemed like a pleasant but
derivative extension of ideas collected from the composer's previous
(albeit limited) works. It's a satisfying listening experience, even
with obnoxiously poor brass performances, but the focus of the
composer's attention was obviously on emphasizing the heart of the
story, yielding the kind of conservatively pretty score that Elfman and
dozens of other composers could crank out in their sleep.
The crew and ensemble for Article 99 was typical for Elfman at the time, Shirley Walker and Steve Bartek translating the composer's ideas for a standard Los Angeles orchestral ensemble with practically no embellishments in terms of unique instrumentation (an acoustic bass being the only rare exception). The piano is the primary element of choice for the sensitive tone of the score, though woodwinds carry Elfman's thematic constructs consistently as well. The primary theme takes several three-note progressions from Nightbreed, as well as that score's light percussive accompaniment in its harmonic passages, and twists them into a completely exuberant and redemptive alternate personality. When light string rhythms propel the theme (along with cymbal crashes and snare tapping), Elfman's style starts sounding familiar to John Debney and David Newman's standard comedy writing of the 1990's. That said, both extended versions of the main theme in Article 99 ("Main Title" and "End Credits") are extremely easy on the ears. Conflict is at a minimum in the score, the somber reminders of the larger issues at stake in the story embodied by stereotypical trumpet solos of distinction. The only truly disruptive passage in the score occurs in "Death," in which Elfman manipulates the light piano theme into a dissonant nightmare complete with pitch-defying brass effects. The "Love Theme" is interestingly a simple extension of the primary theme. The highlights of Article 99 may be, for Elfman veterans, the cues in which he addresses the outward comedy on screen. These glimpses back into the zany mannerisms of the composer are best heard in "Mayday" and "Rebellion." The general demeanor of these cues espouses the same playful mischief as Elfman's Pee Wee scores while also featuring the descending harp and thunderous minor-third piano pounding from Beetlejuice. The latter half of "Mayday" actually reminds strongly of Batman, especially in its rattling percussive effects, churning rhythmic patterns, and alternating horn and trumpet figures over snare. A little more vague is "Shooter" and "Confrontation," which treat the militaristic aspect with the diluted honor of a typical Mark Isham drama in that genre. On the whole, Article 99 is the kind of score that suffices in its task and would be largely unmemorable if not for the basic fact that it so strongly reminds the listener of a composer's trademarks during his most popular period of output. For those familiar with Elfman's famous scores from that era but not Article 99, the inexpensive (and short) album on the secondary market will greet you like a good, long lost friend. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 34:25
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
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