Meet The Fockers Soundtrack CD

Composer: Randy Newman.
Personnel: Randy Newman (piano); Bruno Coon (vocals, guitar); Rock Deadrick (vocals, drums); David Sutton (vocals); Dean Parks, George Doering, John Goux (guitar); Allison Allport, Maria Casale, JoAnn Turovsky, Marcia Dickstein (harp); Eun Mee Ahn, Al Hershberger, Miran Kojian, David Ewart, Irina Voloshina, Katia Popov, Tamara L. Hatwan, Robin Olson, Mark Sazer, Aimee Kreston, Ana Landauer, Alan Grunfeld, Ken Yerke, Rene Mandel, Sungil Lee, Eric J. Hosler, Franklyn d'Antonio, Joel Derouin, Kevin Connolly, Lisa Sutton, Richard Altenbach, Jacqueline Brand, Roberto Cani, Bruce Dukov, Julie Gigante, Clayton Haslop, Phillipe Levy, Maria Newman, Sara Parkins, Roger Wilkie, Liane Mautner, Dimitrie Leivici, Miwako Watanabe, Rafael Rishik, Endre Granat (violin); Matt Funes, Marlo Fisher, Shawn Mann, Lynn Richburg, Vicki Miskolczy, Rick Gerding, Michael Nowak, Pamela Goldsmith, Steve Gordon, Keith Greene, Roland Kato, Janet Lakatos, Simon Oswell, David F. Walther, Piotr Jandula, Bob Becker , Thomas Dienner, Darrin McCann, Shanti Randall (viola); Timothy Landauer, Dennis Karmazyn, Doug Davis , Anthony Cooke, Paul Cohen , Stephen Erdody, Armen Ksadjikian, Dane Little, David Low , Andrew Shulman, David Speltz, Cecilia Tsan, John Walz, Christine Ermacoff (cello); Dan Higgins (flute, saxophone); Norda Mullen, Jim Walker (flute); Phillip OConnor, Steve L. Roberts, Gary Bovyer, James Kanter (clarinet); Phil Ayling (oboe, English horn); Tom Boyd (oboe); Michael O'Donovan, Ken Munday, Allen Savedoff, David Riddles (bassoon); Gary Foster, Greg Huckins, Joel Peskin, Bill Liston, Bob Sheppard (saxophone); Gary Grant, Malcolm McNabb, Jon Lewis , Jerry Hey, Warren Luening (trumpet); Dan Reagan, Andrew Thomas Malloy, William Booth, Bill Reichenbach Jr. , George Thatcher, Charles Loper (trombone); Tommy Johnson (tuba); Phillip Edward Yao, David Duke, Richard Todd, Brian O'Connor, Jim Thatcher (horns); Jim Cox, Randy Kerber (keyboards); Jimmy Johnson (electric bass); Jim Keltner (drums); Einstein Brown (steel pan); Alan Estes, Dan Greco, Gregory Goodall, Michael Fisher, Steve Schaeffer, Peter Limonick, Donald Williams (percussion).
Audio Mixer: Frank Wolf.
Recording information: Sony Scoring Stage.
With songs and a small score by Randy Newman, as well as tracks by Canned Heat and Tim Hardin, Meet the Fockers is a short, often perfunctory-feeling soundtrack. Indeed, the soundtrack to the movie's predecessor, Meet the Parents -- which also featured songs and a score by Newman -- had one-and-a-half times as many tracks on it. More disappointing is that what is here feels scattered and deflated. Newman's songs, "We're Gonna Get Married" and "Crazy 'Bout My Baby," are breezy and humorous enough, but aren't all that developed. His score fares better, but cartoony cues like "Baby and Me" and "Jack" still feel more serviceable than inspired. The film's theme, which mixes tiptoeing pizzicato strings with wacky brass and saccharine flutes, is, for better or worse, an accurate portrayal of Meet the Fockers' mix of broad humor and sentimentality. "Suspicious Mind" also works well, managing to sound tense, funny, and smart. Though the soundtrack includes only a handful of pop songs, Canned Heat's "Going Up the Country" and Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter" evoke the hippie roots of the Focker family. A pair of dubby tracks by HeadBone, "Wilderness (Dub)" and "Dancing," round out the album. Die-hard Meet the Fockers fans might need this soundtrack, but it probably won't satisfy anyone else. ~ Heather Phares