by Heather Phares
The soundtrack to Tim Burton's unusually subdued, sentimental Big Fish collects pop songs from the '30s through the '70s as well as longtime collaborator Danny Elfman's score and a new song from Pearl Jam, &Man of the Hour.& Though Burton's quirky, eerie aesthetic would normally be at odds with Pearl Jam's earnestness, the two work well together here, with the song touching on the film's warmth and adding a bit of earthiness to its daydreamy nature. The rest of the soundtrack's pop songs play a bit like a miniature version of the Forrest Gump soundtrack, moving from Bing Crosby's early-'30s jazz hit &Dinah& to the '50s nostalgia of Buddy Holly's &Everyday& and Elvis Presley's &All Shook Up& to the '60s and '70s recollections of Canned Heat's &Let's Work Together& and the Allman Brothers Band's &Ramblin' Man.& Like the film itself, Elfman's score is also on the relatively subdued and sentimental side -- fans of his sprightly, spooky style will only get a chance to hear that aspect of Elfman's music on &Return to Spectre& and the eerily lovely &Jenny's Theme.& However, the rest of the score is by no means dull; Elfman takes the film's Southern setting to heart musically as much as Burton does visually, and the fiddles, banjos, guitars, and strings give the score an appropriately, and appealingly, down-home flavor. Surprisingly moving cues like &In the Tub& and &Finale& reaffirm just how integral this score is to the movie. Finally, Bobbi Page and Candice Rumph's &Twice the Love (Siamese Twins' Song)& adds some of the style and whimsy usually associated with Burton and Elfman's collaborations. While Big Fish is a somewhat atypical Burton/Elfman soundtrack, it's still a successful one.