For veteran film music listeners still waiting for a replacement for the undeniably romantic inclinations of Georges Delerue, Philippe Rombi remains perhaps a better candidate than Desplat, if only for the exact reason detailed above. Desplat has the capability, as he does in Cheri, to perfectly capture the spirit and character of a love affair. But his path to achieving that functionality takes him in directions that don't offer streamlined, expansive expressions of passion or melancholy. He often allows several incongruent lines of musical action to coincide, not always forming satisfying counterpoint but allowing the dominant lines to carry enough of a cue's personality to address the proper overarching emotion. These periods of frenetic, almost prickly enticement in Cheri are easily its highlights, using piano, strings, high singular woodwinds, a variety of tingling percussion, and even electric organ to move with alacrity through figures that dance off the pages of Desplat's written notes (the absence of a harpsichord at the forefront is a relief). The sense of whimsy in this treble-dominated score floats effortlessly despite all of this action in its major thematic parts. Conversely, however, the score does falter in the second half of its presentation on album, during which time Desplat's far more restrained and surprisingly sparse material is heard. The score becomes strained in this half of the product, ending in the concluding track on an extremely discomforting, single extended whine at the highest reaches of the violins. The score's more interesting cues, and those that will perhaps appeal to a greater audience, will be those in which Desplat involves both brass and a deeper bass region, including "Return Home" and "To Biarritz." Both of these cues close with fluid expressions of harmony, especially the latter one (which also contains an odd semblance to Elliot Goldenthal's noir thematic adaptations in Batman Forever). Overall, Cheri is the kind of work that will enthrall collectors of Desplat's airy but precise rhythmic meanderings. The advertised participation of the London Symphony Orchestra perhaps ensures that an adequate rendering of these difficult lines of movement will be well performed, but don't assume that the ensemble usage guarantees any sense of resounding depth. The album may have been a more consistently engaging listening experience at 30 minutes rather than 45, and a curious 15-second insertion of silence in the middle of "The Wedding" is disconcerting. Still, it's an effective score and an attractive album for a specific group of listeners.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download