K-Pax

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

K-Pax is the kind of movie that intrigued me from the beginning to the end. From the begin when the trailer was released, giving a great impression which immediately called for attention to the very end of the movie which kept the possibilities open. Yet, no matter how you responded to those possibilities, everything is explained so carefully in the movie that you simply don't realize it at the end. It is simply so neatly hidden that even at the very end, you are second guessing as what has happened right now. The music which supported this intelligent drama was scored by young hotshot composer Edward Shearmur, and he gave it a very interesting background listen. Interesting in the way that it is pure background but never losing your attention for a moment. This is probably why K-Pax as a score was accepted so easily from all film music listeners, simply because Shearmur's music didn't require much else to go with. The score works very well in the movie while never giving too much away or too little to go with and therefore the listen feels exactly the same. It is not earth shattering but just the right kind of intrigue to keep you attentive from the start to the end. Especially the main theme is a very interesting piano figure and even if its not bombastic, it is good simply because it is interesting. And so K-Pax moves from start to finish as a nice attentive listen which can amuse you from time to time.

The score starts with the very interesting piano main theme, 'Grand Central' and basically moves on from there to the secondary bouncy theme which carries a very stimulating beat. And from there, the score starts to variate the most on these themes and with effect by the way. Better moments are 'Constellation Lyra' with its more mysterious use of piano and strings, creating equally here a variation on the main theme. Also a very interesting track to digest is 'New Mexico', with its female vocal which gently supports the piano before some better use of emotional sounding strings create a nice effect. 'Coda' ends with the string theme of track 9 in a piano variation which rounds up the score. Between these tracks we have either the main or bouncy secondary theme and their variations to keep the score flowing ever so delicately. It is therefore that K-Pax should be steered away from if you seek melodic action packed or dramatic listening. K-Pax is melodic but so soft or delicate that it requires a different ear to hear. It is nice and I really like the main theme, the bouncy secondary theme and actually each track, simply for what it does and supports. K-Pax is especially to appreciate if you saw the movie, making more sense then to appreciate the score for its low background mood, without ever sounding boring, forgettable or uninteresting.

\ЕЕЕ/

Tracks

Single Disc

1. Grand Central (4.40)

2. Good Morning Bess (2.49)

3. Taxi Ride (3.52)

4. Constellation Lyra (2.43)

5. Bluebird (3.54)

6. 4th Of July (4.16)

7. Prot Missing (2.32)

8. Sarah (3.05)

9. New Mexico (6.26)

10. Powell's Return (1.13)

11. July 27th (4.42)

12. Coda (3.20)

Total Length: 43.45

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: Edward Shearmur ===