Soundtracks Reviews

Soundtrack Review: Definitely, Maybe

By Sue Klasky Jul 7, 2008, 15:53 GMT

The score for the recent film, "Definitely, Maybe" was written by composer Clint Mansell. He has been writing movie scores for over 10 years.  Scores are instrumental compositions, rather than soundtracks which feature songs and lyrics. 

This romantic comedy stars Ryan Reynolds, Rachel Weisz, Abigail Breslin, Kevin Kline and Elizabeth Banks and Isla Fisher. The plot concerns Will (Reynolds), who is on the brink of divorce. His daughter, Maya played by Breslin, wants to know about the previous women in his life, before her mother. He decides to tell her, but changes the names and makes Maya guess who was her mother.

Whether featuring guitar or piano, there's a similar musical thread that is featured throughout most of Mansell's tunes, it makes the recording quite uninteresting and dull.

The first track, "Will Hayes for President," sets up this musical theme. In "April (Come She Will)," "It's April," "Summers Over," "Second Thoughts," "Maya Knows," "For Emily (Whoever She May Be...)," and "Jane Eyre" it's as if the composer took that one musical idea and tried to see how he could use it in different ways. 

An exception to the boring tracks are the bluesy "An Evening at the Odeon," the four-minute "The Candidate," which is kind of funky with the horns and the backbeat, and the quiet "Here Comes Summer."

Another problem is the length of some tracks. When a song does start to become interesting, boom, it's over way too fast, such as "Panic Stations...." A few of the songs are also less than a minute.