MOVIES OF THE ‘80s : MUSIC : NOTABLE HYPE

The worst part of any Marx Brothers movie were the dreary musical interludes, where Zeppo would croon a sappy show tune or Chico would plunk the piano with his gnarly index finger. And that’s exactly what’s wrong with movies today. They’re full of the same deadly-dull musical monkey business, except now it’s called a rock ‘n’ roll montage. Film music has become such a dominant part of today’s hit-movie formula that it’s often taken the place of a slightly more important cog in the process--the story line.

If you think we’re exaggerating, just watch “Running Scared,” a caper film about a pair of Chicago cops who decide they’d rather retire and open a bar in Key West than die in a hail of bullets on the South Side. It would have been nice to see why Key West is such an enticing daydream, but instead the film’s tropical scenes are squeezed into a rock-drenched montage: the partners roller-skating around Key West with a bevy of bathing beauties. What should have been a turning point in the film came off like a third-rate David Lee Roth video.

Pop scores today often sound so breathtakingly out of place that you find it hard to take the movie seriously at all. Perhaps the worst offender in recent years was “White Nights,” directed by Taylor Hackford, whose reputation for adept usage of music seems based more on the chart success of the songs than their relevance to his films’ themes.

“Nights” is crammed with scenes where dancers Gregory Hines (a black American defector) and Mikhail Baryshnikov (a Russian defector who crash-lands back in the U.S.S.R.) practice for a big show in a deserted rehearsal hall. The sequences are perfectly suited for a rousing score, but instead of letting Hines strut to some juicy funk music--which could have dramatized his yearning for home--the film lays on a coating of homogenized, Phil Collins-style pap, squelching any passion the moment might have had.

No one’s saying we need a new generation of Lionel Newman clones. Most traditional symphonic scores sound hopelessly outdated today--just listen to John Williams’ overblown score for “The River” or his bombastic “Space Camp” effort. (Of course, the oldsters have no corner on bombast--Duran Duran’s “A View to a Kill” is a camp classic, full of overblown silliness and mantra-like chants about “fatal kisses” and “dances in the fire.”) But instead of drawing from pop’s strengths--its slinky, sensual appeal, brittle emotions and moody atmospherics--most films have put rock on a short leash, either transforming it into woozy, electronic background music or using it as a cheap thrill, a way to tart-up another stale teen dream.

Rock scores don’t have to be stiff or stodgy. Today’s pop music has enormously evocative powers, and at its best, it can give a film a supple, rhythmic sock. It’s no secret that ‘80s films pay homage to the glory of youth, and you couldn’t find a more liberating burst of energy than the scene from “Risky Business” where Tom Cruise prances around his parents’ living room, frolicking to Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock & Roll.”

There are plenty of wonderful musical moments in other recent films too. Danny Elfman’s psychedelic calliope score neatly captures the giddy spirit of “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure,” just as “The Big Chill’s” Motown tunes crystallized the nostalgic tug of the film. Pop music can celebrate almost anything, whether it’s the dreamy mysticism of “We Don’t Need Another Hero” (from “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome”), the arid beauty of Ry Cooder’s score for “Paris, Texas,” the forbidding eroticism of Wang Chung’s score for “To Live and Die in L.A.” or even the cartoon nihilism of the compilation punk score from “Return of the Living Dead.”

But too often rock in Hollywood is simply dross in search of gross--a convenient shot in the arm for films that need a big beat to fuel their stultifying storylines and glossy special effects. Just look at Tom Cruise today. Our “Risky Business” hero is now up in the clouds in “Top Gun,” where the heavens themselves are so fully stocked with electronic Muzak that its almost impossible to tell the difference between the burp of machine-gun fire and the clatter of synthesizers. If the music has become the message, it’s struck a sour note.

Notable Films: Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (Composer Danny Elfman), Purple Rain (Composer Prince), Paris, Texas (Composer Ry Cooder), Return of the Living Dead (Composer Alex Gibson).