Pleasantville: Original Motion Picture Score
Oscar is a fickle little nude statue, one who historically seems to have had it in for talents like Ennio Morricone and Randy Newman. Perhaps because his uncle Alfred had a mantel full of the li'l gold fellas, Randy may yet have to stand on his head and spit nickels to win an Academy Award. Newman's work onPleasantvillebegs to be honored for less theatrical reasons: doing what the greatest film scores do, fleshing out character and plot almost subliminally. Sure, Newman gets to lovingly (re-)create the bubbly, smotheringly sentimental theme song of the prototypical '50s-family-TV-comedy-that-never-was (one that serves as the nexus for the film's social and cultural metaphors), but it's the composer's gentle, emotional touches (recalling some of the more plaintive moments of Copland and Bernstein) that help truly add color to the characters' black-and-white sitcom world.Pleasantvillehas been lauded for its ideas and masterfully subtle visual effects, but Newman's music is what holds it all together.--Jerry McCulley