Martin Blake (Orlando Bloom) is an ambitious but anxious young doctor, eager to impress his superiors and colleagues: Chief Resident Waylans (Rob Morrow), self-assured fellow intern Dan (Troy Garity) and no-nonsense nurse Theresa (Taraji P. Henson). But things are not going Martin’s way and he can’t seem to shake off his insecurities. When 18-year-old patient Diane (Riley Keough) is admitted for a kidney infection, Martin steps in, getting the much-needed boost of self-esteem he craves. But things take a dark turn as his enthusiasm begins to become an obsession...

Part conventional classical score, part modern style and part jazz soundtrack, the music for The Good Doctor represents an interesting collection of musical styles.

I have to admit that that the first time I listened to this, I wasn't overly struck. However, repeat listenings start to reveal the wonderful jazz/classical music combination. The jazz tracks are just mainstream enough to appeal to all, while the classically scored themes will be welcomed by serious soundtrack collectors.

Highlights include 'Piano and Wine' (which is a beautiful classical track played with a single stringed instrument and piano. In parts it reminded me of David Shire's wonderful music for Return to Oz); 'Diane Returns' (which, along with a few other tracks on the album, reminded me of Thomas Newman's score for The Shawshank Redemption); and 'Drowning' (which builds to an interesting theme).

I couldn't work out if the rather odd background talk on 'Dinner Table', which briefly appears and sounds like someone talking in the mixing studio, was intentional or a mistake which slipped onto the finished recording. Also the review version we received appeared to have 25 tracks - and as the press release stated there was on 24 tracks and there were two track 24s (one of which was untitled), I'm not really sure whether the final track was part of the album.

Overall, this is an enjoyable score that offers several interesting themes.

7

Darren Rea