• Composed by Deborah Lurie
• Lakeshore Records / 2012 / 60:36

How’s this for an appealing premise?  “Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, home to wiseguys, average Joes, and Stephanie Plum, who sports a big attitude and even bigger money problems (since losing her job as a lingerie buyer for a department store).  Stephanie needs cash – fast – but times are tough, and soon she’s forced to turn to the last resort of the truly desperate: family…”  No doubt box offices around the globe are now struggling to cope with the number of calls they’re receiving from Movie Wave readers unable to contain their excitement at hearing about such an enticing cinematic prospect.  Yes, Janet Evanovich’s breakthrough novel has finally made it to the big screen.  The score is by Deborah Lurie, whose career seems to have drifted towards an array of chickflicks of late.

It’s pretty rare that scores to this type of movie get released at all (the soundtrack albums are usually full of songs) but Lakeshore’s album includes a generous 45 minutes or so of Lurie’s music alongside a handful of songs.  The score is small in scale, but uniformly pleasant – guitars, drums and Hammond organ make up the ensemble and this leads to a slightly funkier sound than may be expected (no twinkly pianos here).  It’s more like a series of pop instrumentals than anything, but I doubt the album’s target market will care much about the lack of dramatic flow.  It’s not exactly memorable but it’s got some heart to it and will possibly inspire a whole generation of new lingerie buyers (I’m hunting for the right opportunity as I type).  ***

facebook.com/moviewave | amazon.com