Kindergarten Cop (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Album Review

Much as Ivan Reitman's family comedy Kindergarten Cop manages to avoid the mawkish sentimentality and saccharine slapstick that plagues the genre, so too does Randy Edelman's score sidestep the pitfalls of its particular phylum. Edelman's light, nimble piano themes are playful but never obnoxious, capturing the youthful energy that galvanizes the onscreen narrative — at the same time, darker, more dramatic melodies like "Stalking Crisp" and "Fire at the School" communicate the threat of violence that nibbles around the edges of the plot before exploding at its climax. Even with umpteen subsequent scores under his belt, Edelman still hasn't topped this one.