“Everything In Its Right Place” by Radiohead from “Vanilla Sky”
In most ways, “Vanilla Sky,” Crowe’s sci-fi fever-dream romance remake of Alejandro Amenabar’s “Open Your Eyes,” is his most atypical film: freaky and twisty where his other films are warm and comedic. It does, however, retain a typically Crowe-ish soundtrack (and actually, one of his best), and it’s at its most effective in the opening scene, where the morning routine of spoiled, vain millionaire David (Tom Cruise) is interrupted when he discovers that New York is entirely empty, all scored to Radiohead’s eerie electronic number. It’s a bold and sinister statement of intent, and you’re kept further on your toes when Crowe goes into Mint Royale’s bhangra-ish dance beats of “From Rushholme With Love” as Cruise finds Times Square deserted.
“Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys from “Vanilla Sky”
Crowe turns out to be surprisingly effective at using pop music not just to heighten emotion in “Vanilla Sky,” but to freak you out, and the best, somewhat incongruous use, comes with The Beach Boys’ anthem “Good Vibrations.” As David discovers the reality of his “lucid dream,” and removes his mask to reveal his scarred face, Crowe cranks up the dreamy pop classic so that it virtually obscures the dialogue, taking on a menacing, mind-fucking quality that’s more Charles Manson than Brian Wilson, becoming more and more overwhelming as the camera spins around Cruise. You may never quite think of the song in the same way again.
“Ladies And Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space” by Spiritualized from “Vanilla Sky”
Spiritualized’s Ladies And Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space was one of the best albums of the 1990s, but the record, and Jason Pierce’s band in general, have been somewhat underused by the world’s music supervisors. Then again, it’s hard to use them being used more effectively than the way the album’s title track underscores the film’s bittersweet conclusion, as Tech Support (Noah Taylor) relates how Sophia (Penelope Cruz) found out about David’s “death,” and with a tearful smile, remembered their romance. The song provides the perfect underscore as Cruise (in one of his best performances) laments what could have been: “The little things. There’s nothing bigger, is there?”
“Freebird” by Ruckus/My Morning Jacket from “Elizabethtown”
It took five years for Crowe to follow up “Almost Famous,” and sadly, “Elizabethtown” landed with a thud. A look at family, failure, and grief, the film was clearly a personal one for the writer-director, but due to the miscasting of Orlando Bloom, an unusually clunky script, an unusually uneven blend of sentiment and humor, it didn’t remotely work. Still, the musical moments are mostly strong, among them a live performance of “Freebird” by cousin Jessie (Paul Schneider) and his band, made up mostly of members of My Morning Jacket, at a memorial service. It’s a deliberately hokey choice, plays more Spinal Tap than Stillwater, and marks one of the few comic highlights of the movie.
The Road Trip Mixtape from “Elizabethtown”
It sometimes feels during “Elizabethtown” that Crowe would have rather just made a soundtrack than a movie, and nowhere more so than the final sequence, in which Bloom’s Drew takes a road trip, guided by a map from his father and mixtape left by Kirsten Dunst’s stewardess. An extended fifteen-minute travelogue of Americana, gorgeously shot by John Toll, it’s indulgent, but one of the few moments that comes alive, in no small part thanks to the burst of music that accompanies it, featuring James Brown, Wheat, U2, Tom Petty, Elton John, and two cuts by Ryan Adams (peaking with the gorgeous “English Girls Approximately” — the prolific artist was reportedly one of Crowe’s major inspirations for the film).
