The Rundown

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Harry Gregson - Williams is finally making his name with various projects, often bordering the pleasant scale or the interesting line. Sinbad of the same year proved to be an energetic and extremely enjoyable score for the summer. The Rundown proved to be not. I didn't know what to expect of the movie but one thing was that it wasn't serious at all. Actually kinda cool and so I expected Harry Gregson - Williams to go in that path and make something entertaining of the effort. In a certain point he did, but not in the overall score. The Rundown is an experimental showcase of exotic percussion and the ideas behind them are well chosen ones, but they don't come close in entertaining me. Its the same as underscore, you can stand 5 to 10 minutes of it, but not 30. The Rundown walks the same line and does it just with experimental music instead of underscore. In fact you can't call it underscore at all because the mixing is extremely loud and effective. And this is good for the enjoyable parts, but when the score doesn't cover too many of them, you've got problems. The enjoyable parts are all found near the end of the score. 'Get it On' has after 18 tracks the begin of several very enjoyable minutes of score, with an energetic rhythm and fun musical toying. 'Guns' is the same, with electric added guitars adding the same playful theme of track 19 and these tracks are what I wanted to hear the entire score through. Other fine tracks like 'Kolabos / Marianna Escapes' covers a fine swelling of the guitar (1.55) and 'Whip Fight' has some action - tension music, remaining overtly melodic. But the thing is, they are all found near the end and that is why The Rundown succeeds only then.

The first part is music that will have its effect inside the movie but on disc, it just doesn't click like it should do. Perhaps not enough musical cohesion or simply not enough interest overall. It basically flows before you and then you've witnessed it all. 'Kontiki' must be a very effective musical score inside the picture but when you hear percussion and constant flutes (like in the song for the world cup released several years earlier) you get the impression that its experimental meaning is just because it starts experimental at all. 'Bar Fight' is just percussion and remains a bit acceptable because its real and not synthetic. But does it get a musical flow? No and it just goes on and on. The occasional brief glimpses of guitar trying to state some melodic score is barely not enough for the constant poking around of percussion, flutes, strange overlapping synth effects (track 12) and besides that, it doesn't have a theme at all. A score doesn't need to have melodic themes but it sure works to have one if the score doesn't bring much else. Motifs could have been nice but just several occurring ideas (like the guitar theme, the action tension music and the playful energetic one) do make a point but they last to make a big impression to outwear the overall bland effect this score exhibits. The Rundown by Harry Gregson - Williams is a disappointment because it doesn't show the playful nature the composer has inside of him. Only appearing in 2 tracks, it isn't enough and the basic score doesn't stay melodic to warrant even 40 minutes of this score. It could have worked if the experimental and the melodic were found much more in equal numbers. But now, it feels just too much at one end and too little at the other, despite the idea that it could have been more with at its hand the composer of the moment.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Coming Down (1.13)

2. Booze On The Grind (0.52)

3. The Jungle (1.18)

4. The Compound (1.44)

5. Jeep Rental (0.51)

6. Kontiki (2.04)

7. No Breaks (0.40)

8. Bar Fight (1.37)

9. Journey Ends (0.39)

10. Monkeys & Rebels (3.24)

11. Massacre (1.40)

12. The Deal (1.16)

13. Muzitone Attack (1.08)

14. Long Walk (1.03)

15. Little Swim (1.36)

16. The Gato (3.18)

17. Kolabos / Marianna Escapes (3.32)

18. Lock Down The Town (1.49)

19. Get It On (2.39)

20. The Bus (1.53)

21. Guns (2.32)

22. Whip Fight (1.36)

23. Hatcher's End (3.59)

24. It's On (1.58)

Total Length: 44.32

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

=== Link to Composer Site: Harry Gregson - Williams ===