Search - Richard Robbins, Tito Puente, Jane Birkin :: A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (1998 film)

Another product of a questionable practice that juxtaposes original scores with a hodgepodge of previously recorded songs, this disc is difficult to enjoy without the benefits of a programmable CD player. Richard Robbins's original music to this Merchant-Ivory production is full of interludes that are nicely executed but ill-served by the misguided inclusion of ghosts from old pop stars past. Though engaging in their range from dark romanticism to dreamy suspense and playful swing, Robbins's tracks are not distinctive enough to fend off a wet blanket of noise from the likes of Tito Puente, France Gall, Canned Heat, and David Bowie--all of whom may be welcomed during the movie's actual narrative but not by the home listener in search of a consistent mood. --Joseph Lanza