Newman's contribution to Up Close & Personal plays like patchwork compilation of the composer's developing skills in various genres, never completely leaving his comfort zone but traversing an extremely wide range of styles without excelling at any of them for very long. The overall spirit of his approach is surprisingly sparse and cold, his romantic material barely registering with any convincing sense of warmth. The many scenes of conversation are handled by Newman with very restrained atmospheres of mostly tonal but insignificant structures. Don't expect to hear obvious themes in Up Close & Personal, though when he does allow them to flourish, the score is at its best. Strings and piano carry these duties in these highlights, "Up Close" introducing the main theme on string layers and occasional oboe for the opening scenes. The demeanor of this identity is reminiscent of James Horner's quieter drama and Rachel Portman's chord progressions of the era. Developed further in "Upwind," this theme receives its most emotional climax in "She Knows Now," concluding the album release with two lovely minutes of sorrowful harmony that will justify the entire product for some Newman collectors. The purely background cues in Up Close & Personal do flirt with this theme on occasion, but they tend to reside so faintly in the soundscape that you do not notice them. The other elements at play in the score are the detractions, the Miami location treated to mambo tones that Newman tepidly explores in "Miss Sierra Logger" (the Latin flair is much better represented by the source usage of Tito Puente's "Hong Kong Mambo"). Because the two leads find themselves in tense situations as part of their reporting duties, Newman's score veers off into suspense territory with poor results. The ethnic woodwind accents to the percussive rumblings of "Uprise" are unconvincing, and similarly vague ethnicity dilutes the effectiveness of "Los Locos." The most forceful cue is "Cellblock C," which takes the previous suspense motif's percussive base and layers odd sound effects and tapped cymbals on top for an unnerving couple of minutes. After a stinger in "Bonefish," this material is reprised in echoes. One of the main issues that a listener will have with Up Close & Personal is its poor album presentation; without the cues in chronological order, what little narrative flow Newman was able to create is totally lost. Also an obvious problem with the product is the absence of the Dion song, which addresses the romance of the story infinitely better than the score does. This effort ultimately qualifies as one of Newman's weakest of the 1990's, despite what little redemption comes in the album's final track.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download