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The Caveman's Valentine Original Score composed by Terence Blanchard Polygram Records, 2001
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Reviewed by Lincoln Cho
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Sometimes, when a movie flops, there are good reasons. In those cases, the only possible reaction can be an understandable sigh of relief that we were not unduly and lengthily inflicted with the film. However, when a good movie tanks and blips off the radar with barely a trace, the resultant loss can be close to tragic, if for no other reason than the artistry connected with the film is, for the most part, lost to its potential audience forever. One of the flops that, in some ways, represents the loss of the tragic variety is The Caveman's Valentine, a 2001 film starring -- and in part produced by -- Samuel L. Jackson, a capable actor who, nonetheless, has chosen several motion picture vehicles that offered less than sterling showcases for his considerable talents. When the soundtrack for tThe Caveman's Valentine was assigned to me for review last year I didn't even get around to cracking the plastic on the CD: there had been so little notice around the movie -- and my workload was so heavy -- that the potential review just got pushed aside for other projects. At the time, I felt no regret. I didn't even think about it. Then last week I was more or less forced into watching the film on video. And it was wonderful. And, more importantly for this review, I could tell that the soundtrack would be wonderful, as well. Belatedly I regreted never even having listened to the CD and, at the first opportunity I dug it out of my stacks: a little dusty, perhaps, but certainly none the worse for the wear it hadn't gotten. Following performances in Unbreakable, (bad) Shaft, (badder) and Rules of Engagement (baddest), in The Caveman's Valentine, Jackson plays Romulus Ledbetter, a brilliant Julliard-trained pianist now basically homeless: he's crazy and living in a cave in a New York City park. Based on a novel by George Dawes Green (who also penned the screenplay), The Caveman's Valentine in both the novel and on the screen is a bit of a whodunit, as obviously insane Romulus attempts to prove that a the dead boy found outside his cave was murdered by a prominent visual artist. Jackson's portrayal is bang on. He resists the urge to play Romulus over the top, opting for a more delicate performance: one that is entirely worth seeing. And, of course, Romulus' Julliard background -- and the brilliance the character demonstrates as a pianist at various times during the film -- provides the perfect excuse for a richly beautiful score. Terence Blanchard, who composed most of the 28 songs on the generous soundtrack, has pulled out all the stops here, creating the most serious tragedy in most people having missed out on The Caveman's Valentine. Blanchard cut his movie scoring teeth with Spike Lee. His piano playing was featured in Do The Right Thing and Mo' Better Blues, and he composed the scores for Jungle Fever and Malcolm X. In 2001 Blanchard also scored the silly Mariah Carey vehicle Glitter, Original Sin with Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie as well as the television projects Bojangles with Gregory Hines and A Girl Thing with Kate Capshaw, Stockard Channing, Rebecca DeMornay and Mia Farrow. Obviously, none of these projects could provide Blanchard with the scope for excellence demanded by The Caveman's Valentine, a project based in music, in a sense, and whose success demanded that we believed in Romulus' genius and originality. And, despite the fact that the film was not successful, Terence Blanchard's score was not at fault. And, if I don't miss my guess, Blanchard's scoring of The Caveman's Valentine represents the mark of a genius -- in his own right -- just currently moving into his maturity. Blanchard scores four films for 2002: Barbershop, Dark
Blue, People I Know and Jim Brown All American.
It should go without saying that, should these soundtracks
pass my way, I will be more respectful. I know genius when I
hear it | August 2002 |
Tracks 1: Tuning
-- The Main Title
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