Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #136
Written 1/17/98, Revised 1/9/07
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Buy it... if you seek the tender, romantic side of Hans Zimmer's
writing, confined here mostly to lovely string, piano, and woodwind
melodies.
Avoid it... if hearing Zimmer write essentially a Rachel Portman
score is a twisted reality too horrific for your masculine ears to
handle.
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| Zimmer |
As Good As It Gets: (Hans Zimmer) While true
veteran collectors of Hans Zimmer's early work had heard the "Jim Brooks
side" of the composer's writing, most people were only familiar with the
"Jerry Bruckheimer side" of his career. In fact, his early works
included a substantial amount of material similar to the delightful
As Good As It Gets, but perhaps not in as effective or popular of
a package. The Brooks film of 1997 was a showcase of fine acting,
placing Jack Nicholson's obsessive character against Helen Hunt's witty
one, with topics of racism and homophobia also touched upon in this
ultimate feel-good character drama. While beaten soundly by
Titanic at the Oscars, it brought home the lead acting trophies
and gained a fourth nomination for Zimmer. Brooks was obviously the
first and foremost fan of Hans Zimmer in the world at the time, as his
orgasmic interviews about the collaboration and liner notes to the album
all clearly indicate. At a time when Zimmer and the Media Ventures
clones following him were all starting to sound one-dimensional, As
Good As It Gets was a very refreshing score, even though it's still
a lightweight in the overall scheme. Comparatively, the score is a more
developed variation on the same sound that was heard in I'll Do
Anything and Younger & Younger, with references made to
Nine Months and A League of Their Own. If this doesn't
give you an immediate idea about the aim of the score, then the rest of
this review is simply going to sound like an analysis of a typical
1990's Rachel Portman light comedy/romance score. If Zimmer has ever
stepped on the toes of Portman or Patrick Doyle, it would be with As
Good As It Gets, and the genuinely innocent and upbeat attitude and
swing of Zimmer's work here is especially reminiscent of Portman. The
ensemble for As Good As It Gets is tiny; just a dozen or two
orchestral players from the string and woodwind sections are joined by a
pianist and a handful of very slight electronic effects that are barely
noticeable. While this group may sound sparse, their output at times is
considerably lush.
The personalities of the primary characters of the film
are all well addressed by Zimmer's music. Nicholson's character is
treated to a disjointed, chopping string rhythm led by cello, whipped
into a self-absorbed frenzy in an almost tango-like rhythm. Hunt's
character, meanwhile, is given tender piano and woodwind theme straight
from the Portman playbook, an interesting choice of instrumental
representation given that Nicholson is a piano performer in the film.
Her theme provides most of the pure beauty in the score (while the
dancing string theme is more frivolous), and matures well in "A Better
Man." That cue, easily the best on the album, contains the most
memorable cue from the film, a overhead travel sequence with the full
ensemble in harmony over a more aggressive rhythm. Several other
sub-themes and motifs are presented for the other characters in the
film, as well as an overarching love story idea. In terms of expressing
complexity with such a small group, Zimmer impresses with the layers of
strings nearly always moving in counterpoint for Nicholson's character.
Some of that discord straightens itself out by the end of the film,
naturally mirroring the character. A few cues are worth mentioning
because of their direct references: "Humanity" opens with a few bars
seemingly lifted directly from
Nine Months and "1.2.3.4.5" has a
strangely curious thematic connection to the completely unrelated score
for
The Untouchables in the latter half of its first minute. On
album, about 30 minutes of Zimmer's score (an adequate and satisfying
amount) are followed by the light female-vocalized rock songs heard in
the film (with the exception of one). The album concludes with a sign of
Zimmer's good humor; an Art Garfunkel cover version of the Eric
Idle/Monty Python song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" features
backing by the
Crimson Tide deep, male chorus in a hilarious
juxtaposition of sounds. While the cleansed lyrics are disappointing,
you still can't help but thank Zimmer for suggesting the piece to Brooks
for inclusion in the film and on album. Overall,
As Good As It
Gets is an easy and lovable score, and while a 55-minute bootleg of
Zimmer's work for the film is traded on the secondary market, the
commercial album has more than enough charm for most listeners.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
Bias Check:
For Hans Zimmer reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.85
(in 128 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.96
(in 299,193 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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