I love you, Beth Cooper (2009)
Director: Chris Columbus
Soundtrack on the Abkco Records ABK 02312, released 2009.06.23
THE FILM
One more tour of high school cliques, cliches and clashes in an attempt to wittily subvert the 'system' - this time by having the nerd's valedictory speech at graduation centring principally on his love for the cheerleader (a rapidly typecast Hayden Panettiere) and peripherally on the faults and frustrations of his peers. Many a fun movie has fired to success on a more slendour plot device, but I Love You, Beth Cooper doesn't quite ignite because most 'comic' situations are both derivative and somewhat flatly directed. It just ticks on with occasional chuckles to a predictable end. (P.S. Paul Rust looks his age.)
THE MUSIC
Christophe Beck has built a reputation over the past 10 years for creating gentle, calming, accessible, human scores which can drift along dreamily in the background, mixing guitar and string textures with pinprick piano melodies, but have the flexibility to shift into something more melancoly, dramatic or gently comic. Such scoring can be easily dismissed as unimpressive and interchangeable but what is appreciated by film makers is that the style enhances rather than distracts from the onscreen action. It is subtle. Also, despite his use of guitars, the general style, while feeling contemporary, has little pop-specific styling, rendering it less likely to age badly or clash with the inevitable song tie-ins.
As with most teen movies, Beth Cooper sides heavily with its pop credentials, predictably mixing the hip with the cheesey. Where this film differs from others of its ilk is that unfortunately the score gets hardly any chance to shine. A surprising number of scenes are played without underscore, which might not have been so noticeable had Chris Beck not unleashed a marvelously swashbuckling cue for the 'wet towel/fencing' highlight. This music features in the soundtrack CD, as part of a short suite (track 9), the best of three tracks by the composer and well worth the price of a download. The 8'33" of music on this disc does not quite make it worth the purchase on its own, but it not only summarises the score, it might actually account for most of it too, so it is a shame that tracks 5 and 12 are not individual enough to warrant more than a quick listen. Track 9, however, opens with a beautifully understated setting of the main theme followed by the full orchestra swashbuckler (minor key inflections, scurrying strings, cymbals, trimphant brass, etc.), giving the film a sense of breadth and excitement it doesn't rightly deserve. It is difficult to recommend the disc, however, in competition with recent more generous discs and innovative scoring.
CD TRACK LISTING
1. Forget Me - Violet Columbus (2'51")
2. Try It Again - The Hives (3'31")
3. Come Out Of The Shade - The Perishers (4'00")
4. Sway - The Kooks (3'36")
5. Last Kiss - Christophe Beck (2'46")
6. Catch Me If You Can - Gym Class Heroes (5'09")
7. Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast - Airbourne (3'44")
8. A Good Idea At The Time - Ok Go (3'13")
9. Beth Cooper Suite - Christophe Beck (4'43")
10. Beth - Kiss (2'48")
11. Cruisin' - Smokey Robinson (5'57")
12. Who Knew? - Christophe Beck (1'08")
13. Feels Like The First Time - Foreigner (3'52")
14. School's Out - Alice Cooper (3'31")
15. Forget Me - Eleni Mandell (3'14")
VISUAL END CREDIT
END CREDITS
Music editor - Mark Jan Wlodarkiewicz
Score recorded and mixed by - Casey Stone
Additional score recording by Steve Kaplan
Score coordinator - Jake Monaco