Pleasantville

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Always a friendly face with Award nominations, Randy Newman never seemed to know if it was his comedic songs that stirred the crowd then the score for the motion picture itself. Perhaps 1998 gave him the answer when he was nominated for A Bug's Life (song and original score) and Pleasantville. Is it now simply me if I find that Pleasantville stands miles away from A Bug's Life in potential? Of course as a listen A Bug's Life surely holds its place but I find Pleasantville a magical listen with some of the best damn tracks of the year. Sadly some of the best damn tracks of the year are found on one of the shortest albums in its category (31 min), this makes the listening experience very good, but lacking something extra to grade it higher. Its like this, I always grade the score with how well it listens and how much it has of splendid tracks. Pleasantville has the first in abundance, the second is a bit thinner in number. No doubt about it, I adore this score but there are a lot of tracks that have good moments, but not overall sound as an excellent track. The difference is still that Pleasantville rightfully deserved its Oscar nomination for best dramatic / original score and should not become overlooked by fans of all genres.

The score, consisting of 31 minutes doesn't show the complete side of Randy Newman's composition. I'm especially referring to the gorgeous "Edward Scissorhands meets John Barry moment" in track 5 'Mural'. It appeared in the movie three times, the art book, the painting on the wall and the broadcast show on television at the end. This is not a complaint but I just loved any moment of it when it appeared in the movie. Of course I'm always for diversity in a soundtrack release and even if its not my thing at first impression it listens simply good, nostalgia awakens with 'The Pleasantville Theme' while 'Let's go Bowling' is one of those wacky but extremely enjoyable jazzy repertoires coming of Randy Newman's list. And tracks worth mentioning simply because they have great moments are 'Real Rain', 'Bud's A Hero', 'Make-Up', 'Burning the Books' and 'A New Day'. The difference is that these tracks offer good moments, but it are simply those good moments and not the entire track that make it an excellent one. I had this feeling also with several other Newman releases. Scores like Maverick, A Bug's Life and Parenthood gave me the moments to think highly off but it wasn't enough. Of course some are a dream come true.

'In the Bath' and 'Mural' are really brilliant. The first might give you shivers, it nonetheless represents the sexual discovery of pleasures while the second already belongs with the best moments of Randy Newman, they bring beauty to the fore and breathtaking emotion on screen, surely nominees don't receive any better stuff then this. Non Newman fans might question where this score came from. Did it really came from that jazzy singing piano cracked up guy? Yes. The movie made the score original, the score the movie magical. In the end it became one of the best, most original and loved movies I saw and thanks to Newman's score it worked amazingly in its context. Sadly the score was short and perhaps the expanded version of Randy Newman might give me what I want, (the DVD rip off score has 47 minutes but unfortunately also 44 tracks). At least they will give me what I might have missed in advance. I'm sure fans who want nothing to do with a Randy Newman soundtrack will love it, simply because it puts Newman's obvious talents in a different light. Pleasantville has that magical fantasy mood I adored in the movie, that colorful approach I endeared, at the end you wouldn't want it any other way. Or let me rephrase it in Pleasantville terms, who wants black and white when you have the color right in front of you?

Pleasantville "DVD Isolated Score"

When people receive a short release, they don't always know the truth behind it. Some might say that if the score is good then why does the material run so low. My personal example is The Lion King, no doubt to say that the expanded result will become more then worth it, but Tarzan, if we stay close in the directions of Disney was not the fertile improvement. It proved that the short release outclassed the promo. Pleasantville while lasting for just 30 minutes is the same old thing. An excellent score that weaves its magic in the movie and keeps doing it when you hear it on disc, but was all that people wanted present on the release? No, and that led me to the DVD Isolated score. Nothing could stop this baby of giving me all I wanted. But in advance nothing happened because Pleasantville, the expanded release doesn't do the short score justice. Pleasantville may have been a short release, hearing 44 tracks in just 48 minutes isn't my idea of a great listening experience, and that doesn't even include that those short tracks don't even see the end of their original length.

Apart from the immense short tracks (some even have an incredible running time of 8 seconds) it is also the biggest fowl of not letting them stop. Sometimes you are in the middle of a track and suddenly it stops, hearing the rest of that initial track continue in the following cue. This isn't good for enjoying the score and even if its got everything that the movie contained of magic, that exact same magic is vanished in seconds. You will probably ask, then what is worthy of the interest? 'Breakfast' is the first big track (2.36) that offers us the jazzy theme of 'Let's go Bowling' played on piano. 'Cat!' is a short variation on the first part of 'Bud's A Hero' while 'The Rocker' exhibits even a second of Randy Newman talking through the music, apart from being unique, it is also frustrating. Still, the magic remains to be found on the score and tracks 18 and 19 form together the stunning track 'In the Bath', even if it stops and returns to break the mood. 'The Art Book' is the "Edward Scissorhands" music moment but missing the choral approach. However this is the correct version that appeared in the movie, followed by the track that appeared on the original album in that same name. 'Don't Cover it Up' seems to be 3 new minutes but its just the first part of 'Real Rain' while the second part simply follows in the next, stupid really. More frustration along when you receive examples like 26 and 42, it simply stops in the middle of the track, doesn't even continue in the next. To keep the story short, everything that made the original so good is vanished from begin to end.

You will also discover that the certain track titles don't simply cover up with the correct ones that appear on the original one. 'Rain' is in fact 'No Umbrellas'. So don't lose your head over these ones. One of the best tracks on this score though is 'A New World', even if it forgets to play the first thirty seconds of that original track and runs directly through the fanfare, it still offers us the third "Mural" esque moment with shine and wonder. The 'End Titles' is no more a taped together piece of several tracks all heard on this score, mixing and editing is simple when you've got the stuff at hand. Pleasantville is an incredible score by Randy Newman, it does wonders for its film and listens like a breath of fresh air on disc. But sadly this Isolated Score isn't the right one to listen to if you want to get a good listening experience. It is simply a worse example of how not to represent a score. Those that are desperately seeking for everything that Randy Newman composed will perhaps ignore the flaws, but remain with the original release if you want to experience the best possible listening experience each time you encounter its guilty pleasures.

Pleasantville: ***1/2
Pleasantville "DVD Isolated Score": ***

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. The Pleasantville Theme (1.08)

2. Real Rain (4.31)

3. Bud's A Hero (1.25)

4. In The Bath (2.08) Excellent Track

5. Mural (2.05) Excellent Track

6. Make-Up (1.39)

7. The Art Book (1.22)

8. Punch (0.30)

9. Together (0.45)

10. Waking Up (1.30)

11. No Umbrellas (1.06)

12. Burning The Books (2.28)

13. The Aftermath (2.02)

14. A New Day (5.00)

15. Goodbye (1.33)

16. The Sweater (0.16)

17. Let's Go Bowling (1.31)

Total Length: 31.08

Pleasantville "DVD Isolated Score"

1. Intro (0.10)

2. Pleasantville Theme (0.10)

3. The Johnson Family (0.12)

4. Getting Ready (0.48)

5. TV Repair Man (0.08)

6. A New Remote (0.58)

7. Sucked In (0.13)

8. We're In Pleasantville (1.09)

9. Breakfast (2.36)

10. Cat! (0.26)

11. The Rocker (0.40)

12. The Neighborhood (0.37)

13. School (0.39)

14. Work (0.09)

15. Mr. Johnson (0.17)

16. A Red Nose (0.25)

17. Basketball Blues (0.20)

18. Daughter's Advice (0.47)

19. Bath Time (1.07) Excellent Track

20. Fire! (1.22)

21. Make-Up (1.35)

22. The Art Book (1.18) Excellent Track

23. Unused Part I (1.21)

24. Don't Cover It Up (3.25)

25. Nude Portrait (1.23)

26. Bowling Alley (0.51)

27. New Rules (0.41)

28. Morning (1.23)

29. Rain (1.08)

30. The Plot (0.34)

31. Umbrella (0.53)

32. Unused Umbrella (0.25)

33. Black And White (0.16)

34. Vandalism (2.22)

35. Aftermath (1.32)

36. New Law (0.25)

37. Unused New Law (0.23)

38. Unused Part II (0.43)

39. The Mural (2.05) Excellent Track

40. I Miss Her (1.10)

41. A New World (2.14) Excellent Track

42. Good-byes (1.07)

43. Back Home (1.06)

44. End Titles (5.10)

Total Length: 48.21

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=== Link to Composer Site: Randy Newman ===