"Cinderella Man"
Score Composed by Thomas Newman

Playing within the realm of safety, the music for any movie constructed to be a viable Oscar contender will simply not try to tackle any new ground. Simply looking back at last year's winner for best score, '"Finding Neverland"' was a soundtrack that offered quality but lacked uniqueness. I am left with a similar impression with this score.

What I found when listening to "Cinderella Man" was that I could substitute nearly any score previously done by Thomas Newman in its place and it would have generated the same result. And that is an opinion that I had formed after just the first few score tracks. A "Rocky" score, this is not.

From the first track onward, the music mostly consists of delicately arranged underscore, some of which with the underpinning of irish elements that represent that main character. There is limited variation from one track to the next, except for some period music that is injected within various spots, and the last few score tracks on the album. While good for the atmosphere and consistency of the movie, this doesn't make for the most ideal soundtrack listening experiences...unless you are a major fan of Newman and appreciate his style.

As hinted to above, there are some glimpses of life in the latter tracks, with music that offers a bit more energy, especially with track 23, '9, 4, 2 Even.' It's exceptional, and worthy of your attention. This is the kind of situation that Apple's iTunes is made for as I would recommend purchasing individual tracks from this score and add it to your compilation. Buy track 24 while you are at it too. Both tracks 23 and 24 offer the best the album has to offer.

Overall, unless you want to deal with vintage Thomas Newman underscore, I'd say step aside from this one and wait to hear how the music plays out in the movie. Then, and only then, should you decide to pick this one up.

One other interesting note that I should make -- there is a listing for 25 cues on the score. A generous portion, however, the track times are not listed on the packaging. If they were, you'd notice some short running times. Not a bad thing necessarily, but it's just something I wanted to point out to my fellow film music fans out there.

Final Score: "Cinderalla Man" is professionally made, well orchestrated, and offers moments of excellence However, this is not one for the ages.

Composer Comparisons: Road to Perdition