James Horner’s Sneakers soars in its unbound jazzy hope and upbeatness, with a wonderfully saxophone-led (played by Branford Marsalis) main theme showcasing this perfectly, and some heart-poundingly tense action setpieces being the cherry on top of this career highlight score.
The score for 1992 caper-thriller Sneakers kicks off my next set of James Horner-focused reviews, and for very good reason! Awash with dramatic orchestra, jazzy instrumentation and a gorgeously played saxophone (courtesy of talented saxophonist Branford Marsalis no less), this score is an exquisitely styled mixture of tension building and wondrous jazz, and was a major influence on Horner’s compositional works from its debut onward too, with many further soundtracks of his tracing their stylistic and tonal origins back to Sneakers. So without further ado, let’s dive straight in! La-La Land Records’ proudly remastered and expanded release for the score begins with a curiously forty five second piece, “Jeremy Subharmonics”, and Branford Marsalis wastes no time in solo establishing a gentle, rather sultry saxophone sound for the score while also debuting its memorable main theme. Ethereal bursts of high-pitched vocals then open “Main Title” on a backdrop of Marsalis’ lovely saxophone work and a curiously wistful repeating four note motif – Horner’s infamous ‘danger’ theme. These elements leap and interchange wonderfully in this two minute title piece before fading just as eloquently out, with the subsequent “Bank Penetration” then continuing the light, almost playful mood with quiet percussion elevating the continually saxophone-driven main theme to sublimely hopeful heights.
Upbeat piano notes open “How Much Do You Want?”, with the ever-optimistic main theme then sounding through on said piano backed by delightful surges of Marsalis’ saxophone. The piano then turns a little tenser but nonetheless continues into the subsequent “Bishop Goes To NSA/Surveillance/Black Box”, with strings and the danger motif returning on wary saxophone to accompany. The main theme then elevates the mood again in the more playful “Janek’s Office” with hopeful strings and gentle saxophone echoing, with the eight minute “Too Many Secrets” reprising the ethereal vocals from earlier opposite light piano and swirling strings. As the lengthy cue continues however, the piano starts to get wary and the saxophone-focused danger motif begins to build opposite increasingly anxious percussion and dramatic strings, altogether introducing the heist-styled action drama side of Horner’s score here proper. The progressively tense percussion then continues into the first half of “The Hand Off” together with the similarly apprehensive piano and swirling saxophone wariness of the danger motif, before moody brass starts to take centre stage in the back half alongside the aforementioned and still increasingly anxious instrumentation and motif.
Another mammoth track arrives with the nine and a half minute minute “Cosmo… Old Friend”; plinking and rather wondrous percussion opens the piece, with this, floating strings and serene piano then continuing this newly gentle tone through much of the rest of the track and interspersions of the danger motif wafting quietly inbetween. The short “Phone Trace” then plinks cheerfully away with light percussion and vocals at first before building to a much more anxious crescendo, with “What Did It Sound Like?” afterward continuing the rising drama with reprisals of the ethereally chanting vocals opposite dramatic percussion in its first minute. From here the music then shifts slightly, with moodier strings re-establishing the espionage-y sound of earlier together with intense piano notes. A rather upbeat rendition of the main theme then echoes quietly at the start of “Planning The Sneak”, building first on gentle percussion before progressing to louder piano and finally Marsalis’ ever-optimistic saxophone accompanied by similarly delightful strings. After the main theme fades to a tranquil finish, “Carl Enters Playtronics” then switches things up as piano once again turns rather tense, with swathes of flurrying strings only furthering this anxious stylistic agenda together with backing percussion and worrisome hints toward the main theme, all hinting at a tremendous action setpiece up next.
“Playtronics Break-In” parts one and two form the action core of Sneakers, and they’re the absolute stars of the show as a result (well, bar a couple theme tracks to come anyway!). The tense piano that’s been building for the last few cues takes centre stage straight away in part one with wary strings accompanying, and before long the danger motif returns too in similarly wary style. Dramatic bursts of percussion and brass also soon arrive, with the entire orchestral ensemble then building with increasing tension throughout the rest of the cue. Part two then picks up where it leaves off, with dramatic piano notes looping fiercely until just past the two minute mark where loud action orchestra thunders into full view, with the danger motif, bursts of aggressive brass and marching drums leading a tense march all the way to a crashing crescendo finish. All-in, this is one hell of an action cue; the rolling piano, marching drums, bursts of angry brass – it all works masterfully well in tension building, and you can really hear the origin of an action sound that Horner would go on to utilise for years after this. The moody piano then continues into “Cosmo Sounds Alarm”, with swirling strings accompanying the still loudly in-your-face drums alongside eerily low-pitched brass until the two minute track builds to a tense close.
The wondrous chanting vocals of earlier return in “Cosmo’s Monologue” alongside a lovely saxophone performance of the danger motif, before hope suddenly rushes into action territory with the subsequent and impeccably upbeat “The Escape/Whistler’s Rescue”; rapid flurries of percussion and strings leap playfully along in the opening minute, before a flare of orchestral wonder then unveils a brand new theme – curiously, given how close we are to the end of the album now – Whistler’s theme! Heroic brass, triumphantly upbeat percussion and strings hold the new motif high for an elegant and indeed superbly enjoyable soar in its debut, before the music then fades back down for a gentle finish. The subsequent “Goodbye” then rounds off the story with a few uncharacteristically serene renditions of the danger motif on wistful sax and strings, before we’re treated to a pair of utterly stellar Standout Cues to close out the album proper. First up is “The Sneakers Theme”, which offers a gorgeously tranquil and happily lengthy playthrough of the titular main theme on swirling saxophone, optimistic piano notes and cheery percussion, with “…And The Blind Will See” then continuing this sublime end credits-styled endeavour with further – and slightly more grandiose – delightfully sax and orchestra-focused playthroughs of the Sneakers theme interspersed with conclusive renditions of Whistler’s.
Overall, James Horner’s stylishly suave score for Sneakers is simply sublime from start to stop (I really tried with that sentence, can you tell). The entertaining main theme, heard best through Standout Cue “The Sneakers Theme” and end credits piece “…And The Blind Will See”, leads Horner’s masterful (as standard with the composer really) use of orchestra through an album that’s equal parts upbeat and joyful as it as dramatic, heist-focused and tense. The former tone shines through talented saxophonist Branford Marsalis’ exquisitely sprightly instrumental playing atop jazzily cheery orchestra (see the earlier-mentioned Standout Cues as well as “Main Title” for excellent examples of this) and the latter tone thunders in impeccably intense ferocity alongside excellent use of the infamous danger motif through action setpieces like “The Hand Off” and album highlights “Playtronics Break-In” parts one and two, which while being solidly enjoyable also showcase the beginning of an action orchestral style Horner would go on to utilise in multiple further works (like for example the rapid piano in Clear And Present Danger). A late but nonetheless playfully entertaining aspect of the score as well is Whistler’s joyful theme, showcased through “The Escape/Whistler’s Rescue” and of course the standout end credits cue.
All-in Sneakers is an absolute career highlight of Horner’s, both in its use of themes and orchestral style, and you need look no further than “… And The Blind Will See” to hear exactly why.
Score: 8.5/10
Standout Cues: Playtronics Break-In, The Sneakers Theme, …And The Blind Will See
Buy the 2-CD expansion for James Horner’s Sneakers here, by La-La Land Records.
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