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Review of Midnight Run (Danny Elfman)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... for a vibrant and refreshingly unique entry in Danny
Elfman's career, a very bluesy comedy score of immense positivity and
enticing performance inflection.
Avoid it... if you simply cannot escape the era of the recording, because while the music remains fresh stylistically, some listeners may not be able to tolerate its connections to the 1980's.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Midnight Run: (Danny Elfman) Much in the same style
as the director Martin Brest 's previous Beverly Hills Cop, the
1988 action/comedy film Midnight Run relies upon the chemistry of
its leads to carry its appeal. Robert De Niro is a bounty hunter tasked
with finding the ridiculous but otherwise compliant Charles Grodin, a
former accountant for the mob, and bring him to the bail bondsman who
made the unfortunate bet that the accountant wouldn't flee after being
tagged for his mob activity. The bounty hunter, Jack Walsh, succeeds in
finding that man, otherwise known as "The Duke," but unfortunately for
both of them, it seems that half the universe is after one or both of
them as well, including the mob's boss, federal agents, and yet another
bounty hunter. The entire movie is an arduous chase across the United
States while Walsh avoids running afoul with any of these other
characters. The two handcuffed leads eventually form a bond of trust
that leads to a surprisingly positive conclusion at the end. The film
was an immense fiscal success, received top-level awards nominations,
and confirmed the prowess of both Brest and De Niro in the comedy genre.
The movie was also a worthy diversion for Danny Elfman, who by 1988 was
suddenly neck-deep into his new composing profession and branching out
into various genres for himself. His very busy writing schedule in 1987
and 1988 cemented his credentials beyond the quirkiness of his Oingo
Boingo roots. While he had tackled assignments for non-fantasy
contemporary topics, Elfman hadn't really opened up with a divergent
style to the extent that Midnight Run allowed, exploring blues
and country tones in absolutely saturating fashion. While the composer
had laced his material for The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo and
then Forbidden Zone with a definite Cab Calloway influence, he
had never really opened up and devised a whole work informed by those
genre origins. In retrospect, Midnight Run is therefore one of
Elfman's most unique and fresh scores not just for the 1980's but in his
entire career, a sustainable experience despite being rooted in the
instrumentation of the time of its creation.
While Elfman's instrumental choices in Midnight Run are vital, so too is the performance inflection and pure, joyous attitude that prevails in the rendering. Several of the Oingo Boingo band members performed in the broader ensemble for this score, but don't expect to really hear any direct references to that style of Elfman's past. Nor do you receive the drab and primitive sounds that had badly restrained the composer's Wisdom just a few years earlier. Indeed, his capabilities had improved vastly over just a short period, excelling in arrangement, equipment, and thematic handling. The instrumentation for Midnight Run features electric and acoustic guitars, electric and acoustic bass, drum kit, piano, vibraphone, brass, accordion, harmonica, Hammond organ, and synthesizers emulating strings and performing their usual keyboarded parts. Elfman generally keeps his cues short and pinpointed to a specific flavor of emotion in the score. The collection of themes is balanced by several chase motifs that don't explicitly reference one of those themes but maintain the mood, often making use of improvised harmonica outbursts and madly strummed guitars with great enthusiasm. There aren't many stylistic diversions from the core sound of the work, though slight Latin influence kicks in for humor in "Amarillo Dawn" and the only suspense comes in the atmospheric rhythms of "The Confrontation," the closest to Wisdom Elfman strays here. As for the themes of Midnight Run, the primary one for the story overall uses descending comedy phrasing typical to the era and provides trumpets, piano, electric bass, and drum kit plenty of space to let rip with spirited vibrancy. In full force during the entirety of "Main Titles," the main theme flashes some shade in the first half of "F.B.I.," reprises its full form in "Mobocopter" with the brass a bit muted, and is reduced nicely on guitars in "Potato Walk" for a conversational aside. It builds up to its wildest incarnation in the jubilant "Desert Run," but the end credits revisit it with a gospel rendition in the "Try to Believe" song. Although credited to "Mosley & The B-Men," the performance is actually by Elfman and Oingo Boingo, with the score's instrumentation carrying over for strong continuity. Among the secondary themes in Midnight Run, one for the bounty hunter, De Niro's Jack Walsh, utilizes ascending phrasing with a distinct Harold Faltermeyer influence in its use of bluesy guitars. Cool, solitary, and victorious in the flourishing guitar of "Walsh Gets the Duke," this theme receives more layers of activity and a less obvious guitar placement in "J.W. Gets a Plan." It is more upbeat with less strident tones in "Drive to Red's" but returns to its opening singular guitar prominence in "The Longest Walk." On the flip side, the theme for The Duke, the accountant, presents softer blues for piano and vibraphone, elegantly keyboarded during all of the brief "In the Next Life" and generally affording the score its respites of contemplative redemption. This idea slows the mood with the help of Hammond organ and piano in "Diner Blues" and becomes even slower with more gravity from piano and synthetic strings in "Walsh Frees the Duke." Among the secondary themes, one for the other bounty hunter, Dorfler, is a bluegrass identity of laid-back ease with accordion and piano in "Dorfler's Theme," reprised in largely similar ways during "Dorfler's Problem." Less impactful is what barely qualifies as a motif for Mosley the F.B.I. agent. This stewing piano idea contains the score's darkest intent at the end of "F.B.I." and is hinted in the tone of "The Confrontation" but not clearly enunciated enough to provide continuity. The entire package of Midnight Run is a success from start to finish, its attitude and personality a perfect match for the movie's character. The score's detriment is its relative stasis from start to finish, Elfman never feeling compelled to vary the feel far from its core. On album, that consistency could be a significant plus, though there has only been one long-standing product available for Midnight Run and it has sometimes commanded collectible prices. Its sound quality is solid for its generation, and the synthetics and guitars don't age it as much as you might expect. Oingo Boingo fans will note that the "Try to Believe" song was rearranged a bit for inclusion on their 1990 album, "Dark at the End of the Tunnel," and that performance is arguably superior. But the score album is not to be discounted. It sounds very little like a typical Elfman work, akin to only Hot to Trot, and it's damn good at the blues it conveys, making it an enduring pleasure to revisit. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 41:34
* performed by Mosley & The B-Men (Oingo Boingo)
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Midnight Run are Copyright © 1988, MCA Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 11/27/24 (and not updated significantly since). |
