It’s long since become standard Hollywood operating procedure to throw a handful of disparate, if market-savvy, pop songs together and declare it a rock music soundtrack. But former Pop Will Eat Itself mainstay Clint Mansell again turns the "rock music score" equation gratifyingly on its head in service of writer-director Adam Brooks’ tale of how an idealistic young father’s romances and divorce affect the relationship with his adolescent daughter. Centered largely around a small ensemble dominated by gentle, sometimes jazzy piano motifs and alternately angular/haunting guitar flourishes, Mansell creates an intimate musical tapestry whose quiet textures are its most welcome charms. Tellingly, when Mansell does bow to traditional orchestration, as on the longing brass strains of "For Emily" or the autumnal string arrangements of "Jane Eyre," they become but another organic element in his laconic, if ever inviting emotional soundscape.
- David Wingo & Jeff McIlwain
- Various Artists
- Hans Zimmer
- Aaron Zigman
- Theodore Shapiro
- Various Artists
- Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross