Field Of Dreams: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Elmer Bernstein, among the greatest of the golden age film composers, has lamented that there's not enough "artistry" in soundtracks today. He abhors the pop hit collections that pass for movie music albums, and the man's got a point. Perhaps he'd go for Horner's score to Phil Alden Robinson and W. P. Kinsella's fairytale ode to fathers, sons, and baseball. It's as evocative as the film itself, a shimmering corn field or a late-afternoon fly ball in every note. It's warm ("The Cornfield" is sweet, subtle, heartbreaking--like an echo, really), fun ("Old Ball Players" recalls Randy Newman'sRagtimescore), and stirring ("The Place Where Dreams Come True" doesn't need a father-and-son game of catch to move you). A gem. No, a diamond!--Robert Wilonsky