THE GOOD WIFE - David Buckley
Los Angeles based Brit David Buckley has an impressive resume to his name that boasts Ridley and Tony Scott, Ben Affleck, Joel Schumacher, Rob Minkoff, Luc Besson, Pierre Morel and Taylor Hackford amongst just some of the influential film fraternity he has had the privilege of working with. Scores to commercials, TV, Games and Film show a versatile composer who adapts with agility depending on what the project requires. Honoured by BAFTA as a ‘Brit to Watch’ and listening to his scores it is easy to see why composers Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams and Danny Elfman wish to work with him.
Synopsis
A wife is thrust into the public spotlight and must provide for her family on the back of her husband’s infidelity whilst in office. Returning to the legal world that she has been removed from for so many years whilst playing the ‘good wife’ she quickly feels isolated in the vastly changed world that she was once accustomed to. We watch the trials and tribulations unfold and the relationships form and break over 5 seasons of excellent TV and it simply keeps getting better.
Buckley’s score to The Good Wife is quite possibly one of the stand-out TV scores in the last decade. It is not often that listening to a cue for the first time transports you immediately into the scene and you can recall it so vividly. This shows what fantastic script writing, acting and direction David Buckley has been working with over the 5 seasons. He provides a subtle harmonizing voice behind the scenes on screen and all in the most economic way. There are no overly dramatic cues that draw the viewer away from the action unfolding; instead what we are treated to is a classic musical storytelling method. His use of various strings, piano and woodwind (as well as some minor but well placed electronic instrumentation) puts you in the heart of the plot and transports you into the bizarre chaotic legal world world of Stern/Lockhart/Gardner, yet within a brief moment we are in a serene environment with playful and wistful melodies reminding us just how much of a Circus Maximus the Chicago legal scene is.
Some of the music has a beautifully Baroque quality to it with tracks ‘Waiting Room Rondo’ or ‘Hitting the Fan’ sounding as though they belong in a Vienna Concert Hall, but it sits perfectly with the context of the plot. Ultimately, the show is a waltz like story revolving around many different individuals whose paths cross all too frequently. The musical landscape David Buckley has created is emotional in the right places, is chic much like the central character, Alicia and is definitely grandiose in its narrative value; lives at stake, millions of dollars on the table or careers in the balance. With work on Forbidden Kingdom, Gone and the computer games Call of Duty: GHOSTS and Batman: Arkham Knight under his belt alongside numerous films and his 5 seasons of The Good Wife we can all look forward to what David Buckley has lurking away in his imagination...more of the same please!
The album we are presented with contains a varied selection of cues from the 5 seasons that Buckley rearranged into mini-suites so that we can enjoy the experience away from the show (something I wish more composers did with some of their scores) and I only wish the score release were 3 times longer as his material is insanely lyrical and pleasing on the ear, whether a casual listener or avid fan of media composition. As a jovial addition the last track can only amuse as fans of the show will recall watching Eli (played so brilliantly by Alan Cumming) looking agasp at the computer screen and watching 'I Wanna Kiss Peter Florrick'unravel the whole political campaign in one foul-swoop.
