Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (Original Motion Picture Score)

Album Review

The scoring for a broad comedy like Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is actually a delicate matter in which the music must support the varying moods without overwhelming the humor. Happily, the filmmakers found an expert in composer George S. Clinton, who began his Hollywood career providing music for the Cheech & Chong movie Still Smokin' and went on to such efforts as the Austin Powers films. Here, he ranges from the big, stirring symphonic theme that launches the first cue, "Ron Fox/Interrogation/Gitmo," to ersatz Indian music that gives way to fast-paced action music ("Cockmeat Sandwich"), Bernard Herrmann-like horror music ("Dead Bambi/Cell Phone/Doors/Cyrus"), Western themes ("Branded"), and a combination of Ennio Morricone-like Western music and disco ("Hewitt Texas/Broken Heel/The Airport"). This eclecticism keeps things light and fun, which is what comedies like this are aiming for.