Visit the Movie Wave Store | Movie Wave Home | Reviews by Title | Reviews by Composer | Contact me MEET DAVE Enjoyable but unmemorable orchestral comedy score A review by JAMES SOUTHALL Music composed by JOHN DEBNEY Rating * * *

Performed by THE HOLLYWOOD STUDIO SYMPHONY conducted by JOHN DEBNEY Orchestration BRAD DECHTER FRANK BENNETT KEVIN KASKA CHRISTOPHER KLATMAN MIKE WATTS Engineer SHAWN MURPHY Music Editor JEFF CARSON JIM HARRISON Produced by JOHN DEBNEY Album running time 42:41 Released by VARESE SARABANDE Catalog number VSD-6906 Album cover copyright (c) 2008 Columbia Pictures Industries Inc.; review copyright (c) 2008 James Southall.

After the unqualified success that was Norbit ("Sensationally abysmal" - Hollywood Reporter; $150m, says the worldwide box office) everyone can breathe a sigh of relief that director Brian Gibson and star Eddie Murphy are back together again, this time in a surely-hilarious comedy (how could it not be?) in which Murphy plays a spaceship.  All the ingredients for success are in place and it is surely only a matter of time before Dr Strangelove's place as the critics' favourite comedy is in jeapordy.  For once, David Newman turned down big bucks to score a pile of shit and so John Debney - no stranger to this sort of thing himself - stepped in - and I'm sure we've all stepped in to a pile of shit or two in our time. It's impossible to say without sounding incredibly unkind, and I apologise therefore for doing so, but isn't Debney just the most generic film composer there could ever possibly be?  I know "generic" is the in-thing in Hollywood film music at the moment, but even by those standards stuff like Meet Dave is really something - there isn't even the merest hint of something distinctive here, and while I would take this kind of well-composed generic any day of the week over sub-Zimmer generic (how I longed for Debney generic in Iron Man instead of the sense-numbingly putrid score it actually got), it's really hard to get particularly engaged by it.  Nobody could deny how well it's put together - charming tunes, boistrous orchestration, typically-brilliant performance by the Hollywood musicians - but try remembering anything about it once the CD has finished and you'll be scratching your head more vigorously than a class of Romanian schoolchildren during a strike by the nit nurse. One thing you can do is play a little game of spot-the-temp-track, because it might inspire you to listen to better things.  Star Trek II is there, almost certainly; ditto the Jawa music from Star Wars; and I suspect there's even a bit of Debney's own Cutthroat Island for one or two sections.  No blatant rip-offs, but it gives you something interesting to think about while the album's playing.  Ultimately I shouldn't be so harsh on this - it's solid enough orchestral scoring - and frankly for this film it's a miracle the score is anything like this.  Tuneful, enjoyable - just not very memorable.  I'm sure those who do like the D Newman / Silvestri / Debney comedy triumvirate (are they all actually the same person?) will love it, and for others it does make a nice antidote to some of the trash we get served up these days. Tracks Orb Arrives on Earth (1:33) Dave Comes to Earth (1:41) Gina Runs into Dave (1:22) Dave's System Check (2:22) Addressing the Crew (1:01) Drunken Man in Alley (1:41) Whipping Eggs (1:13) A Kiss in the Park (:56) Welcome to Old Navy (1:55) Deli Robbers (1:53) Gina's Painting (1:24) Urban Camping with Dave (1:32) Dave to the Rescue (1:19) Standoff (1:01) I'm in Charge Now (1:19) Evil Dave Blasts Police Station (1:22) Reinforcements Arrive (:49) Never Argue with a Female (1:11) Betrayal / Mini Dave and No 3 (2:56) Saved by the Bus / Dave's True Feelings (1:33) Hailing a Cab (:44) The Battle Begins (2:10) I Am Dave Ming Chang (2:05) Saving Earth (1:22) Power Shutdown (1:24) Mini Dave Apologises (2:56) Blast Off and Return (2:12)