Soundtrack Review: The Town (2010)

The Town Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the motion picture score The Town by Harry Gregson-Williams and David Buckley.

"I would argue that the movie is better than the score, but not by much"

The Town is a new crime thriller about a new brutal gang of bank robbers who have been able to get out clean after each bank robbery. The leader is Doug played by Ben Affleck. He knows he will eventually be caught so he wants to do one big heist before he retires. The crew will not allow that however and trouble ensues. The film is directed by Ben Affleck and the composers are Harry Gregson-Williams and David Buckley.

Track List

1. Charlestown	****
2. Bank Attack	***
3. Doug Reflects	*****
4. FBI Show & Tell	***
5. OxyContin	***
6. Healing and Stealing	****
7. Nuns With Guns	****
8. The Necklace	****
9. The Wreath	***
10. Cathedral of Boston	***
11. Fenway	***
12. Who Called 911?	****
13. Making the Switch	***
14. Sunny Days	****
15. Leaving	****
16. The Letter	*****

Harry The Enigma

Harry Gregson-Williams is an enigma isn't he? To (mis)quote someone fictious, but famous: "He is like a box of chocolate. You never know what you gonna get". He has made some fine scores in his career and some bad ones. The problem is that the bad ones sometimes sounds like all his other bad ones.

Let me introduce you to The Town by Harry Gregson-Williams and David Buckley. The last time they got together was for the score "From Paris With Love" which wasn't all that great. It was a mediocre score at best. It didn't work, it was 90% bland and uninteresting. However David Buckley is clearly a very talented composer as we heard in his score for "The Forbidden Kingdom".

Softer Moments

It seems to me that they have picked up a trick or two for The Town however as they smartly use every available "soft" moment in the movie to give the score a more softer feel. Cues like 'Doug Reflects' and 'The Letter' are very emotional, minimalistic and beautiful. The themes really works well and it shows what can be done with the material presented before them. These softer cues are really what sets this score apart from the generic action score. I could mention 'Healing And Stealing' (some parts) and 'The Necklace' as well in that category. They represent Doug's softer side and his love interest.

Most of the action here is quote generic with a few exceptions. 'Nuns With Guns', and 'Who Called 911?' an very good action cue. It's not all-out action but what I like to call thinking man's action. It is thoughtfully orchestrated with very catchy pieces of action bits within.

Harry is also still using the distorted sound he loves so much. You can hear it at the beginning of 'The Letter'. It's in many of his scores, but I still like it.

Conclusion

The Town is shaping up to be one of the better movies this year and I would argue that the movie is better than the score, but not by much. This is a very good crime drama score that mixes action and softer music in a pleasing manner. There are some very good emotional cues on here as well as quite a few fillers, however I think you will agree that it isn't your average action score.