Bruno Barreto's acclaimed 1996 story of a schoolteacher (Dennis Hopper) coming to terms with various aspects of his life and love featured a very fine score by Bruce Broughton, no stranger to dealing with Americana, though this time doing it on a considerably smaller scale than with his revered scores for films like Silverado and Tombstone.

Broughton's score is a model of restraint, a world away from the Hollywood ideal of saccharine sappiness.  The album opens with the main theme performed by a solo oboe and, as Douglass Fake notes in his liner notes, Broughton employs the device of brief ideas interspersed with tiny pauses.  This gives the music a particularly poignant quality as it weaves and winds its way around, making a considerably stronger statement than any wall of strings could have done.  A gorgeous theme is introduced on the piano in "The Coyote"; Broughton has a particular gift for attractive melody and this is a truly beautiful example.  Through the cue he develops various other ideas, subtly shifting the musical direction.  The eight-minute "The Funeral" is a magnificent highlight, featuring an especially-poignant and outstanding theme.

This is a particularly low-key score, which will undoubtedly detract some people.  Music written for small ensembles always runs the risk of just ending up sounding too samey and can get dull, but the skill inherent in Broughton's orchestration means that that does not happen here.  This is not a score for everyone, but Broughton fans and fans of more melancholy, poignant music will find much to admire.

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