Quoting John Ottman, himself, writing about his music for Fantasy Island,
in the CD booklet notes – ‘I was feeling dreary after writing scores
to one intense and dark film after the next, so when this show came along,
it was one of those battery-charging experiences. I actually looked forward
when getting out of bed towrite for Mr Rourke and his questionable world.’
Well Ottman’s release certainly shows for this is a very enjoyable
twenty-minutes or so suite with a very catchy theme. The music evokes a tropical
island paradise with exotic orchestrations. The material may often be whacky,
or spooky and eerie but it is all written with a light touch with none of
the threats associated with the more serious action/dramatic movies –
there’s hardly a cloud around. There are: waltz figures, chase motifs,
fairground-like passages, music that suggests scampering among the tree canopies;
and there is slow meditative stuff too.
Ottman’s score for Cable Guy is, to some extent, very similar
for what is really a black comedy. In this instance, however, it does not
have such a memorable theme. The music is often manic paralleling the
eccentricities of Carrey. The whackiness is very reminiscent of Elfman
particularly when one considers the sentimental and saccharine children’s
chants (very similar to those in Edward Scissorhands except that in Cable
Guy they are used as a reminder of the Carrey character’s disturbed
childhood). There are plenty of demonic slitherings but they are created
with tongue in cheek. A few cues impress: ‘Turn of Events’ seems
to suggest mechanical clockwork toys gone amuck; ‘Spiders and threats’
is – very spidery; ‘Moving on’ impresses it’s a racy,
jazz-orientated track, and some respite is allowed with the warmer nostalgic
material that is ‘Memories’.
A pleasant undemanding album.
Reviewer
Ian Lace
Fantasy Island
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Cable Guy
OSTs
