The Tourist (soundtrack)

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The Tourist (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
The Tourist (soundtrack).jpg
Soundtrack album by
James Newton Howard
ReleasedDecember 21, 2010
Recorded2010
Studio
Genre Film score
Length70:59
Label Varèse Sarabande
Producer James Newton Howard
James Newton Howard chronology
Love & Other Drugs
(2010)		The Tourist
(2010)		 The Green Hornet
(2011)

The Tourist (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album composed by James Newton Howard to the 2010 film The Tourist directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. The album featured 21 tracks of Howard's score, with three songs performed by Gabriel Yared, Muse and Katie Melua was released on December 21, 2010, through the Varèse Sarabande label.

Contents

Background

The film score was initially set to be composed by Gabriel Yared, a friend of von Donnersmarck. Yared went on a four-month tour to Venice in order to know Depp and Jolie before creating a dance track. [1] However, during the middle of the film's production, he was replaced by James Newton Howard. [2] Yared had composed one musical piece "Dance in F" for the film. [1] Howard pictured Venice as the inspiration for the film's musical palette and crafted a score that supplemented the storyline. [3] The film also features, "Starlight" by the band Muse and "No Fear of Heights" by Katie Melua. [4] [5]

Reception

James Christopher Monger of AllMusic noted that Howard's score "strikes a nice balance between electronic-driven, modern heist cues and more traditional, James Bond-inspired espionage themes." [6] Filmtracks wrote "Interestingly, the fluffy tone of The Tourist is in part perpetuated by Howard's choice to mix the orchestral elements far in front of the synthetic ones, another reason this score really sounds little like Salt [...] The album presentation is generous with Howard's material, including over an hour of it (perhaps unnecessarily). But the bonus of the album is hearing one retained cue from Yared's score at the end, a dance saturated with the same European sensibilities that Howard clearly emulated. In the end, one has to wonder if Yared's entire score would have worked just as well, if not better." [7] Thomas Glorieux of Maintitles wrote "Either way The Tourist is an acceptable spy score and at times charming romantic score. And in my mind it is clear that the romantic music does outshine the suspenseful material, and this due to a most lovely romantic theme. So I guess most of you will want to stay to that side of the soundtrack." [8]

Daniel Schweiger of AssignmentX wrote "From fun start to finish on our trip down the dangerously romantic byways of Venice, there's no denying the old-school charm that The Tourist's score has in spades, music that plays the glamorous stuff that stars like Jolie are made of." [9] "This isn't a great album by any means, but it's very enjoyable; probably Howard's most enjoyable non-Shyamalan album in a long time." [10] Tom Lynch of Newcity wrote "James Newton Howard's mawkish score lacks the retro wit seen in the eyewear, costumes and decor." [11]

Justin Chang of Variety called it "an alternately jittery and swoony concoction by James Newton Howard". [12] Matt Soergel of The Florida Times-Union wrote "James Newton Howard's score is sprightly and pleasingly retro." [13] Mick LaSalle of SFGate called it a "mellow soundtrack". [14] Christy Lemire of The Repository wrote "the score from James Newton Howard tends to play up the madcap hilarity, and the would-be romance, a bit too intrusively". [15]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Tracking Elise"James Newton Howard1:29
2."Burned Letter"James Newton Howard2:21
3."Paranoid Math Teacher"James Newton Howard3:31
4."Arrival At Venice"James Newton Howard3:06
5."Elise Offers A Ride"James Newton Howard1:52
6."A Very Nice Kiss"James Newton Howard2:04
7."Bedroom Dreams"James Newton Howard2:58
8."Piecing It Together"James Newton Howard3:11
9."Rooftop Run"James Newton Howard5:18
10."Chase Through The Canals"James Newton Howard5:45
11."Because I Kissed You"James Newton Howard3:34
12."A Very Nice Hotel"James Newton Howard2:27
13."Arriving At The Ball"James Newton Howard2:04
14."Your Choice In Men"James Newton Howard2:04
15."Sudden Departure"James Newton Howard2:03
16."The Infinite Price"James Newton Howard7:30
17."The Janus Safe"James Newton Howard3:01
18."Rain Of Bullets"James Newton Howard1:29
19."Aftermath"James Newton Howard0:52
20."Elise & Alexander"James Newton Howard2:41
21."Personal Cheque"James Newton Howard1:57
22."Dance In F" Gabriel Yared 2:42
23."Starlight" Muse 4:06
24."No Fear of Heights" Katie Melua 2:59

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes: [16]

Orchestra
Instruments

Accolades

Awards
CeremonyAwardCategoryNameOutcome
2011 ASCAP Awards [17] Top Box Office Films James Newton Howard Won

References

  1. 1 2 "Sounding Off on Coco". Interview Magazine . June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on January 18, 2025. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  2. ↑ "James Newton Howard taking over The Tourist". Film Music Reporter. November 1, 2010. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  3. ↑ Das, David (December 15, 2011). "James Newton Howard". Society of Composers & Lyricists . Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  4. ↑ "The Tourist (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Apple Music . December 21, 2010. Archived from the original on May 12, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  5. ↑ "The Tourist (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), by James Newton Howard". James Newton Howard. Archived from the original on November 26, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2025– via Bandcamp.
  6. ↑ Monger, James Christopher. "The Tourist (soundtrack review)". AllMusic. Archived from the original on February 17, 2014. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  7. ↑ "The Tourist (James Newton Howard)". Filmtracks . January 25, 2011. Archived from the original on February 19, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  8. ↑ Glorieux, Thomas. "James Newton Howard: The Tourist". Maintitles. Archived from the original on October 25, 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  9. ↑ Schweiger, Daniel (February 5, 2011). "CD Review: THE TOURIST soundtrack". AssignmentX. Archived from the original on February 8, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  10. ↑ Southall, James (December 21, 2010). "The Tourist". Movie Wave. Archived from the original on December 8, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  11. ↑ Lynch, Tom (December 10, 2010). "Cavalier Currency: A Review Of The Tourist". Newcity . Archived from the original on November 5, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  12. ↑ Chang, Justin (December 9, 2010). "The Tourist". Variety . Archived from the original on June 22, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  13. ↑ Soergel, Matt (December 9, 2010). "Movie Review: Gorgeous stars, beautiful cities don't guarantee thrilling results for 'The Tourist'". The Florida Times-Union . Archived from the original on September 10, 2025. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  14. ↑ LaSalle, Mick (December 10, 2010). "'The Tourist' review: Jolie, Depp lost in misfire". SFGate . Archived from the original on February 3, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  15. ↑ Lemire, Christy (December 10, 2010). "Movie review — 'Tourist' a mindlessly enjoyable trip". The Repository . Archived from the original on September 10, 2025. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  16. ↑ James Newton Howard. The Tourist (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Media notes). Varèse Sarabande.
  17. ↑ Chagollan, Steve (June 24, 2011). "ASCAP fetes film, TV tunesmiths". Variety . Archived from the original on October 26, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
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