I just watched the first episode of this Showtime series last night. Strong start with a great, charismatic lead performance by Liev Schreiber as a professional fixer working for shady types in Hollywood just as his villainous father is released from prison after 20 years and comes looking to reunite.
What I was definitely not expecting was the restrained elegance of the score, by Marcelo Zavros. There's a Desplat-like delicacy to much of the scoring in the first hour (my understanding is he scored all 12 episodes in the first series), and he moves with equal adeptness between brooding, propulsive stage-setting atmospherics in the early "let's learn what Ray Donavan does" montage and the more plaintively emotional final moments of the hour.
Even in this golden era of television, not all of the hourlong dramas strive for a truly cinematic score. This, so far, is one of them.
I just watched the first episode of this Showtime series last night. Strong start with a great, charismatic lead performance by Liev Schreiber as a professional fixer working for shady types in Hollywood just as his villainous father is released from prison after 20 years and comes looking to reunite.
What I was definitely not expecting was the restrained elegance of the score, by Marcelo Zavros. There's a Desplat-like delicacy to much of the scoring in the first hour (my understanding is he scored all 12 episodes in the first series), and he moves with equal adeptness between brooding, propulsive stage-setting atmospherics in the early "let's learn what Ray Donavan does" montage and the more plaintively emotional final moments of the hour.
Even in this golden era of television, not all of the hourlong dramas strive for a truly cinematic score. This, so far, is one of them.
I liked Zavros' score for HOLLYWOODLAND and was pleased to see that he was chosen to score RAY DONOVAN. I haven't decided if I like the show yet, but I like the music. Zavros and Desplat are among the few current composers whose work I enjoy.
