VA, David Newman - Bowfinger - Music From The Motion Picture (1999)

An awkward smorgasbord of vintage pop hits and original themes from composer David Newman, Bowfinger is a quintessential example of the modern Hollywood soundtrack -- in its rush to please everyone, it pleases no one. Taken individually, classic hits like Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man" and James Brown's "Super Bad, Super Slick" retain all their potency and verve, but the sequencing here is so random -- Perry Como's cardigan sweater ballad "And I Love You So"? ¡Cubanismo!'s "One More Time"? -- that the average listener will suffer whiplash from all the abrupt genre shifts. And Newman's small-band themes are just plain dull, a painful reminder that "funky" isn't always synonymous with "fun."~ Review by Jason Ankeny