The Italian Job
Composer John Powell pays homage to this film's Eurocentrism and modern setting with a spare, twitchy main title and other cues that evoke a winning cross-pollinization of the oeuvres ofThomas NewmanandDavid Holmes. Combining organic orchestral elements with electronic flourishes to good effect, that jazz-influenced, post-modernist tack quietly propels the best moments here. The score's main shortcomings are predictable: Thunderous blasts of percussion cadences and thrash guitar that have become expected contemporary action movie cliches. Yet Powell manages to freshen even some of those with intriguing new timbres. Like the suspense caper genre itself, it's a score where the pay-off is not nearly as interesting as the getting there.--Jerry McCulley