Nobody's Fool: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Using both the London Philharmonic and London Metropolitan orchestras, Howard Shore weaves a succession of cozy underscores for this quaint story about small-town dysfunctionals. The tried-and-true formula of chipper strings and buoyant woodwinds is predictably effective, but (in good Shore fashion) the more interesting moments in this relatively tame assortment are the gray and brooding ones. It all sounds so innocent one moment and teeming with doubt the next. Shore may have a slightly more modern take on the kind of American landscape symphonettes Aaron Copland wrote for the movie version ofOur Town. The mood changes are subtle, but the musical wallpaper still talks. For that reason alone, this disc is a fine study of the power that a soundtrack can retain with psychological shadings.--Joseph Lanza