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PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (Danny Elfman)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you value Danny Elfman's penchant for quirky humor
over convincing heart, a tendency that earns him some praise for
creativity in this score but will leave many listeners cold.
Avoid it... if your tolerance for recycling of ideas from prior scores is minimal, Elfman revisiting more material here than necessary and failing to provide the film with much narrative evolution.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot: (Danny
Elfman) Few outside of Northwestern Oregon were familiar with the story
of area cartoonist John Callahan, whose journey from paralysis to
becoming one of the region's most controversial newspaper cartoonists
was adapted from the man's memoir by Gus Van Sant in the 2018 film,
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot. From the man's alcoholic
failures in the 1970's to his long and alternately depressing and
comedic recovery in subsequent decades, Callahan is shown persevering to
live a productive life, aided by a group of colorful but heart-warming
friends. The film is, not surprisingly, one that relies on acting
performances and keen scriptwriting; Van Sant originally received the
project from actor Robin Williams prior to his death, and the role of
Callahan was eventually filled to much acclaim by Joaquin Phoenix. The
film was met with general praise for its feel-good story, but its
distribution by Amazon failed to net much profit. As expected, Van Sant
asked composer Danny Elfman to provide the music for Don't Worry, He
Won't Get Far on Foot in an extension of their long-running
collaboration. The director wanted to avoid sentimentality in the music,
favoring a completely improvised and small-scale approach from the
composer. It was the kind of project that beckoned experimentation by
Elfman, for Van Sant would consistently challenge the composer's
assumptions about the tone of the music for any scene. The resulting
music is often counter-intuitive, playing down the drama of the story
and building the comedic and disheartening elements. For Elfman
personally, the directives from Van Sant and smaller budget allowed him
the opportunity to be involved intimately in the performance of the
score, even going so far as to pull some compositions he had written for
his child to apply to this movie. There is a jam session element to the
score, but most of it remains lightly dramatic and conservatively
accessible. It has the trademark quirkiness of an Elfman work but is
never really warm, and some casual listeners may find it difficult to
place amongst the composer's orchestral past even if the music does
telegraph ample connections to his other music of similarly sparse
character.
For collectors of Elfman's off-beat dramas, connections are to be heard between Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot and The End of the Tour, Promised Land, and Milk. One cue, "Mother's Name," is actually a direct pull from Promised Land while another, "Car Crash," is influenced by Standard Operating Procedure. The instrumentation is limited in scope but does include a fair variety of sounds with the help of synthetics. Free-form jazz opens the score in "Main Title" and extends to "The Liquor Store," but the rest of the music is generated by an ensemble of seven players, including string quartet, guitar, piano, percussion, and synthesizers. Elfman also continues his employment of Petra Haden for vocal effects, a carry-over from The Circle most recently that figures in "Out of Reach" and "John's Speech." The volume these players produce remains highly restrained in most cues, rumbling piano, light string shades, and electric bass typical to the atmosphere of the music. The acoustic guitar and piano together, as in "12 Steps," offer the most hope for the listener to care about the characters, though such usage is unfortunately rare. Tapped metallic percussion is also a highlight when applied, as it suggests the somewhat devious humor involved. Expect a very dry soundscape to enhance the intimacy; even the dreamier aspects of the music don't use a wet mix to further their aim. While Elfman does strive to provide some thematic consistency for the story, that's not really much of a concern for Van Sant, who rearranged the position of several cues in the picture with Elfman's blessing and mostly dialed out some, like "The Liquor Store" and "John's Speech." Two ideas meander through the story, neither particularly impactful. An early main theme is largely abandoned by the end of the film, a rising four note phrase in rhythm over shifting chords that opens "1st Drink" and staggers early in "Car Crash." Its elongated form debuts over deep bass pulses in "Stuck in the Tracks," a new melody developing on top. After reforming in "Out of Reach" into a crescendo of hope, the longer version of the idea opens "The Kids, Pt. 1" over wild percussion and rambling bass. The associated ascending figures inform the optimism of "Drawing Montage," arguably the most inspiring cue in the score, even including some broader color in a (likely sampled) clarinet. The more memorable theme in Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot, though, is one of recovery and relationships that Elfman emphasizes later in the story. Its pleasantly alternating chords in "Phone Call" become very slight in "Annu" and shift to acoustic guitar in "12 Steps" before being reduced to suffering in "Weepy Donuts." The theme returns to "Phone Call" form in "Good News" and opens "12th Step" in lighter shades, Elfman developing it throughout the end credits. This idea would have helped inform the "ALT Main Title" had it been used instead of the jazz, and that alternate cue and the piano line alone from "Good News" are included on a longer version of the album release. The only other melody of interest in the score is a default mother's theme that exists on piano in "Mother's Name," its blatant pull from Promised Land also partially informing "Gymnasts." Fitting in with this mode is a pair of cues written by Alex Somers in the film, "The Hospital Bed" and weightier "The Hospital Bed, Pt. 2" not particularly interesting and the latter only available on the longer album as well. Otherwise, the score offers two moments of absolute zaniness that come from compositions Elfman wrote for his child that he pulled from his library for Van Sant to use in this picture to accentuate humorous moments. The prancing and cartoonish "Showing Off" and vintage, sung Elfman humor of "Auntie Tia" are both totally out of place on this soundtrack and, aside from being amusing like 1980's Elfman music can sometimes be, have no business being here. But that's the nature of a Van Sant score; the unexpected is the norm, and the personality and narrative of Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot struggle as a result. On the plus side, the director did choose to include a recording of Callahan himself in his later musician years, presented as "Texas When You Go" here. Overall, though, this soundtrack is a collection of loosely affiliated ideas from Elfman's restrained, modern dramas of the previous ten years, and the "throw it all at the wall and see what sticks" approach won't work for listeners aside from those dedicated to this mode from the composer. For a lead character with such a remarkable journey, the music has no beginning, middle, or end, simply pontificating moment to moment without a story to tell of its own. The digital album includes three bonus cues, two of which will be of interest to enthusiasts of the score. Otherwise, expect the music to barely tickle your quirkiness meter but otherwise leave you feeling paralyzed by its cold demeanor. **
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 45:55
* written and performed by Alex Somers (The CD's total time is 40:40.)
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a note from the director about the score.
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