Thomas Newman is a critically-acclaimed composer that’s worked on countless films and been rewarded for his efforts more than once in the course of his career. He’s been a student of music since he was a child and throughout his career has continually honed his skills and his love of the craft in such a way that he’s become one of the absolute best in the business. However given his more powerful and moving pieces in films in recent years and in the past two decades it’s a little hard to imagine him doing anything that might have seemed, for lack of a better word, silly.
Here are five film scores that many find it hard to believe were composed by Thomas.
5. Desperately Seeking Susan
As one of his earlier attempts this film isn’t too bad when it comes to its score. It has a very ‘Alice in Wonderland’ feel that gives it a definite twist. Newman’s score is actually very complementary to the film. For a while this film was actually quite popular largely because of Madonna, but the score was right on target and didn’t detract from the movie at all.
4. Jumpin’ Jack Flash
A lot can happen when you send a civilian on an intelligence-gathering mission. People can get killed, disappear, be relocated, and, well, mayhem can be the result. Jumpin’ Jack Flash was one of Whoopi Golderberg’s most noted films, and for Thomas it was another chance at something light and not as serious. One can almost think that he was in a transitional period when he was doing these films, almost trying to find his own style within the music.
3. The Great Outdoors
This was just a fun movie and the score reflects that. It wasn’t meant to be a serious look at nature or at vacationing really, not even when the situation got serious. The film actually kept a light and comedic lean all the way through which was nice because it allowed the actors and the composer to play about and just have fun.
2. The Lost Boys
As dark as this movie really was the score didn’t reflect it as much as possible. In truth it was more akin to a funhouse-type of movie than a vampire film, but somehow it still became a cult favorite. Thomas’ score was entertaining and engaging enough, but it just doesn’t seem to fit quite as well as it should in this film.
1. Revenge of the Nerds
Most people remember this film for its classic characters and plot rather than the score, but if you really listen it makes sense and fits completely with the movie. The nerds vs. the jocks is an ages old quarrel that goes back a long, long ways into history, but in this film it seems to culminate in a way that lets future generations know that the feud is very real and won’t be tolerated as it was in the generations before. When a movie is remembered decades after its release you know it was a hit.
The reason these scores seem so unlike Thomas Newman’s work is that he’s gone on to do some truly classic and far more serious films in his career. It’s worth looking back to see how someone so famous got started.
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