by Ryan Keaveney

Music Composed by John Williams
Rating: ***

Steven Spielberg and John Williams have tackled many different genres together, from thriller (Jaws) to fantasy (Hook) to heavy drama (Schindler’s List). They worked together on a romance (Always) and straight out comedy (1941), but not a romantic comedy. So here, at last, is The Terminal - the story of foreigner Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks), trapped in a U.S. airport due to war breaking out at home and his visa revoked, and his six months spent in the airport, making friends and wooing of a flight attendant (Catherine Zeta-Jones).

The notion of Spielberg crafting a “feel-good” movie and John Williams penning a “feel-good” score are about as plausible as David Cronenberg crafting a “feel-bad” movie and Howard Shore penning a “feel-bad” score… in other words: very plausible. Williams has had some experience in this genre already. His score to Sabrina, in particular is a light, yet classy and old-fashioned nod to the great romance scores of old. The Terminal is very much along the same lines.

John Williams

The album starts off, like most Williams scores, with a made-for-concert suite of the main theme. Williams, using folksy Eastern European idioms to drive his imagination, makes good use of the clarinet- the staple of Eastern European folk music. Imagine Schindler’s List on Ice, and you have “The Tale of Viktor Navorski” (Ok, on second thought, it’s best not to imagine Schindler’s List on ice.) This cue has a nice momentum as it gradually becomes heavier and marchlike, before settling down on a fantastic clarinet cadenza, making this my favorite track on the album. If you think the entire score is going to be like this…

…You guessed wrong as “Dinner with Amelia” is a great little tango. Here comes the accordion. Comparisons to the film music of the great Nino Rota would not be unfounded here. This cue is a delightful original piece of dinner music, and is a good reason to pick up The Terminal. Cues like this one are filled with light, jazzy tickling of the ivories, with occasional appearances of the “Navorski” theme. “Jazz Autographs” gives us yet one more example of John Williams being a master of all genres. The piano and bass work is so light and breezy, your CD player might just float away.

The music occasionally soars too, in tracks like “Vicktor and his Friends” and “The Fountain Scene.” The latter, in particular, contains that movie music romance you won’t get out of 95% of the composers working in Hollywood at the moment. Williams has created a fantastic love theme here. This is John Williams magic at its finest.

A couple cues break away from the romance and jazz and settle into nice light orchestral romps. “The Wedding of Officer Torres” has a nice little 7/8 groove with the melody being passed around the strings and the winds. Then, just to make sure we know the track is underscoring a wedding, the cue ends with a statement of “Here Comes the Bride.” “Finding Coins and Learning to Read” is one of the better folksy tracks, and while mixed with thick strings, is still quite light and agile and keeps with the fairly consistent tone of the score.

And that may be my main problem with The Terminal. The tone is largely the same. The soundtrack, like many romantic-comedy-drama scores, suffers a bit on album if your goal is to actively listen to it… by mid-album it becomes a bit of a chore. Sixty minutes is too much. The album’s actually pretty repetitive. I would’ve preferred a crisp 30-40 minutes. It’s only a matter of time before tracks start to sound the same, and in some cases they are the same. You didn’t think I’d catch the fact that the end of “The Fountain Scene” is the same as “Gupta’s Deliverance,” did you John? You’re lucky the music there is absolutely gorgeous. However, if you’re using The Terminal as background music- let’s say- dinner music for a romantic evening with a significant other, this score is absolute perfection. Well, you might want to consider programming out the “Krakhozia National Anthem” first. Not romantic… at all…

Music Composed and Conducted by John Williams; Recorded and Mixed by Shawn Murphy; Album Produced by John Williams, Availability: In print; Label (Catalogue): Decca Records, (B00002924-02); Release Date: June 15, 2004

01. The Tale of Viktor Navorski (4′12)
02. Dinner With Amelia (8′02)
03. A Legend Is Born (3′16)
04. Viktor and His Friends (4′43)
05. The Fountain Scene (5′33)
06. The Wedding of Officer Torres (5′01)
07. Jazz Autographs (3′45)
08. Refusing To Escape (3′01)
09. Krakozhia National Anthem and Homesickness (1′49)
10. Looking for Work (3′17)
11. Gupta’s Deliverance (3′18)
12. Finding Coins and Learning To Read (4′02)
13. ‘Destiny’ … ‘Canneloni’ … and The Tale of Viktor Navorski Reprise (5′05)
14. A Happy Navorski Ending (2′47)

Total Playing Time: 57′55