MovieScore Media release the soundtrack to the the Irish mob dramedy Be Good or Be Gone with a quirky but also very emotionally charged score by composer Joseph Conlan. Directed by Cathal Nally, the film tells the story of two petty criminal cousins, Ste and Weed, who receive a temporary release from prison as we follow their misfortunes over the next four days...

Joseph Conlan's (The Callback Queen, Sanctuary, Spiders 3D) music for Be Good or Be Gone is a subtle, surprisingly satisfying score. The album consists of 16 tracks (32 min, 56 sec) and while there are some enjoyable themes, there are also quite a few ambient background pieces, like 'Dunky' that feel like they were designed to be cut and pasted into random parts of the film as the director saw fit. While this doesn't detract too much from an otherwise enjoyable score, it did make it feel a little like the music was being padded out.

Talking about the music, Conlan said: "Scores for movies like this are a lot of fun for me to write. While the story has a comedic tone to it, it is dead serious through most of it, with very dark characters threatening the well being of our lovable lead characters. And then there are the warm, romantic parts of the story that get you invested in our two guys and their relationships. So, for Be Good or Be Gone, I got to write light hearted, groove oriented material ('Mr. Darius and His Histrionics', 'Don’t be Ages') that could fold into some very dark, suspense/thriller, atmospheric moods ('Braler Gets Some Bad News', 'Ste Turns the Table'). And then again, there were the warmer, emotional moments with full, lush orchestrations ('Last Chance', 'Ring in a Box')."

While, on balance, I enjoyed this score, there's very little here that you won't have heard before, and the ambient background music might be something that turns a lot of soundtrack collectors off.

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Darren Rea