by Ken S on 2/25/2002
favorite track: 1
 
Unashamedly romantic and wonderfully mysterious, A Beautiful Mind is simply the most intimate and beautiful motion picture score of 2001. On its own this breathtakingly orchestral score surpasses such James Horner romances as Titanic and Legends of the Fall, being simply much warmer, more melodic, and more atmospheric, tickling the imagination of the listener. In fact, this kind of score could have easily fit into a magical world of wizards and enchanted stones - the atmosphere in Horner's music suggests so much more than just a story of schizophrenic mathematician.

In the main theme, "A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics," Horner delivers a very imaginative and awe-inspiring melody. The song version of the love theme, "All Love Can Be," continues the prolific legacy which Horner, Mann & Weil initiated in 1986 with "Somewhere Out There" for An American Tail. "All Love Can Be" is in fact a pleasant surprise during these times when no movie can be without an obligatory end credits song belted out by a pop star - the vocal performance of Charlotte Church is much more accessible than Sissel's wailings and Celine Dion's slurrings from Titanic.

The score for A Beautiful Mind may be, from time to time, quite recognizable as James Horner's work, but it is truly a beautiful and passionate score by one of Hollywood's masterminds.