Search - Aaron Zigman, Hollywood Studio Symphony :: Martian Child [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

When it comes to tearjerker movies (also known in some quarters as "chick flicks"), the Hollywood score shorthand is a delicate piano line. You hear it and you know the guys in the audience were dragged to the multiplex. That piano shows up, of course, on "Main Title" here, and for good measure, composer Aaron Zigman combines it with soothing strings. The rest of the score opens up to a wider range of instruments: percussion, lightly picked acoustic guitar, clarinet, what sounds like a sitar. But the overall mood is so subdued, so wan, that the music almost collapses on itself for lack of structural support. Cues like "Breaking Dishes" and "Hot Coffee" really stick out because they're among the very, very few where Zigman picks up the pace. A bit more variety would have been welcome. --Elisabeth Vincentelli