We Are Marshall (Original Motion Picture Score)

Composer Christophe Beck (The Sentinel, Elektra) peppers his red, white & blue score for director MCG's football drama with the kind of austere, lonely brass motifs that gave Randy Newman's theme for The Natural its sepia-tone sheen and have since become synonymous with America's heartland. Soft and emotive piano cues mingle with contemplative strings that invoke sunsets in a cornfield and stoic faces dealing with tragedy, and the inevitable sentimental climax delivers the goods, resulting in a textbook audio rendering of the American sports drama that gives back to the listener as much as they're willing to put in to it.