A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

All composers tend to have movies for which they specialise - for some, it could be psychological horror; others, action thrillers; others, romantic comedies.  Alan Silvestri seems to specialise in movies about mice, having scored Mouse Hunt and both Stuart Littles in recent years.  Surprisingly, there was never a score album released for either of the latter - a great pity, because the music is as charming and delightful as the films.  Fortunately, Columbia Pictures did put together an album to send to Oscar voters in an attempt to get a nomination for the score, and that album has found its way around the collectors' circuit.

Silvestri focuses very much on the sweet, good-natured side of it all without directly accentuating any of the comedy, which results in a score which could certainly never be accused of failing to be sentimental, but the composer manages to keep just the right side of things becoming too saccharine.  "Tearful Goodbyes", which opens the album, is the perfect example, as it introduces the main theme for strings and woodwinds, a delightful concoction that is really most touching.  The second theme is much jazzier, representing the bustle of city life; it's another good piece, which Silvestri sends through some nice variations along the way.  Despite the quality of the two themes, the best cue is a piece of first-rate adventure music that comes out of nowhere, "Boat Race", a piece of great energy and vigour which actually evokes John Williams at his best.  

This score is certainly not half as inventive or downright entertaining as Mouse Hunt, but for all that it is still a superior example of a score for a movie of this type.  With a pair of great themes, one first-rate piece of family action music and enough charm to blow your socks off, the only real drawback is that it's so hard to get hold of the music.  It'll probably be too sentimental for some - but then, they probably wouldn't be trying to get their hands on the music for a film about a talking mouse if they were without sentiment themselves.  A delight.

Tracks

1. Tearful Goodbyes (4:42)
2. Meet Stuart (1:35)
3. I'm Stuart Little (2:47)
4. Mouse with Pet Cat (3:10)
5. Mob Cat (1:43)
6. Stuart's New Home (1:53)
7. Boat Race (5:31)
8. Snowball Lies (4:12)
9. Final Showdown (6:43)
10. Fairy Tale Ending (3:08)