Ever since the phrase “music from and inspired by the motion picture…” was first pulled from thin air, the film soundtrack has been under threat. Where once it was an art form in its own right, the cunning addition of the “inspired by” caveat has turned the album that accompanies the film into an excuse for record companies to raid their back catalogue and make a quick killing from songs that didn’t even make the closing credits. And if soundtracks worth owning are few and far between, those capable of masterminding them are even scarcer.
So, thank God for David Holmes.
Critics might be marking the Brad Pitt, George Clooney fronted sequel down as second best to its predecessor, but for his part, Holmes has delivered an accompaniment just as tantalising and evocative as his phenomenal 'Ocean’s Eleven' score. If anything, it’s even more hedonistic and sexy, revelling as it does in the extra opportunities the plot affords for kitsch glamour.
A Ratpack remake, set in Las Vegas; 'Ocean’s Eleven' demanded sashaying lounge, glitzy funk and finger-clicking shimmies. With 'Twelve' taking in the sights of Paris, Amsterdam, Rome and the south of France, this time Holmes gets to run the full gamut of ‘60s caper cool. Riviera chic and clichéd heist movie thrills are his main objectives and, between the vintage tracks he’s unearthed and the originals he’s scored, he pulls off both in spectacular style.
The sun-dappled strings of Ornella Vanoni’s “L’Appuntamento” shimmer with Mediterranean romance, while Piero Umiliani’s “Crepuscolo Sul Mare” sounds like something Cary Grant and Grace Kelly would have cruised around the winding roads of Monaco to. As for the clichéd thrills, Holmes’s love of fuzzed guitars, blaxploitation funk and bongos, ensures that for every Latino sway there’s always a grinding burst of camp adrenalin.
Like Pitt and Clooney’s sharp suits and nonchalant one-liners, it’s a deft balance of style and humour. And not since Quincy Jones’s score for 'The Italian Job' has it been executed with such precision. The likes of “What R We Stealing”, with its rocking beats and cold war intrigue, confirm this as a stunning score. The barrage of fantastically overzealous psychedelia, 'Batman & Robin' style chase themes and cop-show cool confirm it’s the work of a man who knows there’s no such thing as incidental music.
