A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

If like me you had no idea that Annapolis is the United States Navy training facility, then you probably (a) aren't American and (b) don't form part of the target audience for this film (which I thought might be a long-overdue biopic of the Norwegian pole-vaulting nun Anna Polis, covering the period up to her much-publicised, tragic descent into alcoholism and despair).  Like movies about baseball, ones about US military training facilities seem to have a rather restricted global appeal.  Sadly for its makers, Annapolis turned out to have a fairly restricted domestic appeal as well, with the 1,325 voters at the Internet Movie Database awarding the film an average rating of 2.9 out of 10 (firmly one of the lowest ratings ever awarded by that site's visitors) and Roger Ebert called it "an exhausted wheeze of bankrupt clichés and cardboard characters, the kind of film that has no visible reason for existing."   Specifically, those  bankrupt clichés seem to come from An Officer and a Gentleman and Rocky, with most reviews saying the film is like a strange amalgamation of the two.  

Yes, Rocky.  A film set in a naval academy which features boxing may not be the sort of thing to entice audiences the world over, but at least it's the sort of thing that usually proves fertile ground for composers.  Composer Brian Tyler's career is still in its infancy but he's already written fine scores for more than his share of turds, so he even has some experience of it.  But something just doesn't quite click with Annapolis - perhaps it's for the obvious reason, but the attempts at sincere grandstanding always come off as sounding a bit fake really.  The main theme is blatantly trying to be like James Horner's Glory, but ends up sounding a bit more like one of Trevor Rabin or Randy Edelman's "stirring" efforts.  The score is certainly at its weakest whenever Tyler is trying to ratchet up the emotion - it just doesn't quite come off.  It's still OK, and in fairness is probably better than Rabin and Edelman's similar tunes, but from a composer who usually writes such interesting music, it's disappointing to hear him "dumb down" like this.

The score is at its best when the action music comes, and there is a reasonable slice of it.  There are two styles - first, the instantly-identifiable, highly-impressive action style Tyler has honed over a number of films (what's this - a young composer writing action music which doesn't sound like anyone else's?) which appears in "Showdown" and several times thereafter.  Second, and less successful, are the (fortunately, more sporadic) sections with drums and guitars and synths added to the mix, which might appeal to the kids a bit more than it appeals to a wizened old git like me.  There are a few more lighthearted sections too, which are quite nice ("Training Begins" in particular).  There's a pretty decent 35-minute album bursting to get out of all this, but sadly at 65 minutes, the music just isn't interesting to sustain itself.  It seems to repetitive and sometimes too simplistic to warrant an album of that length, but I suppose it's better for a CD to be too long than too short (better still for it to be a good length, though).

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Tracks

1. Annapolis (2:30)
2. The Brigades (1:28)
3. Showdown (4:12)
4. Progression (2:07)
5. Turning Point (1:35)
6. I'll Do It (3:08)
7. Run in Place (1:46)
8. The Naval Academy (2:14)
9. Jake (2:27)
10. Four Seconds (1:55)
11. Twins' Theme (2:00)
12. Tank Drill (1:27)
13. The Offer (2:19)
14. A Little Jog (2:49)
15. Second Chances (3:43)
16. Brigade Training (2:31)
17. Eye Opening (1:11)
18. Gates of Annapolis (1:51)
19. Jake and Ali (1:29)
20. Cole (1:27)
21. I Have Nowhere Else to Go (1:39)
22. Training Begins (1:50)
23. Near First Kiss (1:04)
24. Math Problems (:50)
25. Sleepless Night (1:30)
26. Holiday Leave (1:44)
27. Wakey Wakey (2:19)
28. Find Out Who You Are (1:55)
29. Finale (1:05)
30. End Title (5:20)