Music is such an important part of a film. It's the last piece of the puzzle. It can enhance a great movie, save a bad one, distract from a good one and be as important as any special effect. That's why it's surprising there hasn't been a solid documentary on the subject, outside of the occasional supercut.
Score fills that void with an entertaining, occasionally insightful film about the history of scores, from the early days of cinema with live organists to the modern masters of the form. They also spend a good amount of time on crafting a memorable score, even on movies that are clearly terrible.
If you know much at all about music composition or film history, most of this won't be new to you. But what Score lacks in depth, it makes up for in breadth.
Pretty much every living composer you can think of gets interviewed here, with other musicians, directors and industry folks singing their praises. It would have been nice for them to interview more female composers and those who are further off the beaten path (Mica Levi would have fit that Venn diagram nicely), but they do cover a lot of folks with varied styles.
While many composers have easily recognizable styles, all the ones interviewed here have an insatiable desire to keep experimenting, using more unusual instruments, time signatures and effects so they never stay on autopilot, even though it would easy to do so, considering they're lucky to have even two months to work on the final product.
For any serious fan of films and film music, Score is a treat. Like many solid docs, it will send you out of the theater to go down your own rabbit holes.
