Search - Thomas Newman :: Josh And S.A.M.: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Why run away from home... when you can drive?

09/22/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a story about two boys whose parents are separating, and how they handle it. Josh (Jacob Tierney) is the smarter, but less athletic of the two, and his father displays a genuine disappointment in everything he does. Sam (Noah Fleiss) is the younger of the two. He's just failed second grade, and is not doing well in summer school. While he is athletic and physically inclined, he's also a gullable little kid. With a little creative computer work Josh convinces Sam that he's a S.A.M. (Strategically Altered Mutant), created by the government, and that his mother is selling him to the Pentagon and using the money to go off to Europe! The adventure begins when the boys run, er, drive away from home. Their travels take them on a wild route to Canada, and along the way the meet up with the Liberty Maid, a character whom Josh also made up, but who is nonetheless quite willing to play along (but the joke's on Josh). Throw in a couple mean brothers and a persistent sheriff, and you've got some rather plausible fiction that makes a great movie!"

Movie for all ages, nations, sexes, the Grey aliens love it

ROBERT DOUGLASS | Chillin at Gabbara's | 01/12/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Josh and Sam is just one of those kinda movies, who can forget Surf Ninja's and Airborne? It's one of those movies you start out watching on a friday night while your wondering "what in the heck am i doing with my life?" However you find yourself pulled into this story of how 2 brothers cope with their mother flying off to Europe with her Rico Suavea boyfriend and to make matters worse she hasn't even invited you along! You have to go live with your father in Florida with his new wife and her 2 boys. To make a short but hard to describe story shorter, Josh sees that his brother Sam is favoring his new stepbrothers and giving him the cold shoulder. So he goes on his dad's computer prints up some official looking documents and convinces his brother that the real reason he can't get good grades at school, why he's so good at football and why he gets in fights at recess is because he's S.A.M. an acronym for Strategically Altered Mutant . He concvinces Sam that everyone is in on it but him and his mother father and stepbrothers want to send him off to a secret war in Africa and collect money from the Pentagon. Nevertheless when they 2 amigos have to go back to California to pack up their stuff they are delayed in Dallas. Josh uses this as a chance to runaway but finds he can't get very far without Sam. They steal a drunk's car and head for Canada where Sam believes he will be safe from the Pentagon. Along the way they meet up with my girl Martha Plimpton who Sam believes is the Liberty Maid come to lead him to Canada on the Underground Roadway! What else can i say, a candle apple red 1993 pontiac Grand Prix, the open backway western roads and your heading towards Canada and an uncertain future. Josh and Sam is a great film which unfortunately has not been discovered by many people."

"Josh and S.A.M." Soundtrack Review

William R. Briggs | Lemon Grove, CA United States | 10/11/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After hearing the music selections of "Josh and S.A.M." three times, I've concluded that I'm happy I bought the CD. I hadn't heard the music since seeing the film about 1995. At that time I thought it worked very well in a relatively mediocre film. Being a fan of most of Thomas Newman's scores, I hear a lot of the composer's usual tricks at work here. There's the funky, twangy sounds mixed with electronic sounds with the overlaying strings and woodwinds. No other composer has this signiture sound, and if you like it, it'll hook you. The "Main Title" has a nice little melody played in either an English horn or oboe. This tune only appears in two other sections. It's the soulful-sounding strings in "Saltwater Palace, Bus to Canada, and Targhee Pass," for example that I really liked. It's this kind of poignant stuff that Newman can do so well. I give this soundtrack 4 stars. It's not "The Shawshank Redemption" nor "Oscar and Lucinda" but still pretty enjoyable, especially if you like most of Newman's music. In my opinion, he's the most gifted composer working in Hollywood today."