The 5th Annual James Horner Blogathon – The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)

This is the final of 3 reviews that are part of The 5th Annual Remembering James Horner Blogathon hosted by Becca over at Film Music Central . Tnx for letting me participate!

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“You ain’t seen Chicago, you ain’t seen nothin’. ” – Natty Gann

Number of Times Seen – 1 (20 Aug 2020)

Brief Synopsis – A young girl travels across America during the Depression in search of her father who moved away in order to find steady work.

My Take on it – This is a film that I recall hearing about when it came out 35 years ago, yet never ha the opportunity to see what it was all about

The story unfolds in a average way and despite being an adventure story they never are able to find their groove along the way.

This, makes it even more difficult for the audience to feel engaged as things move along.

Meredith Salenger does a nice job in her debut role and the fact that she pays her tomboy character well helps make things a bit more interesting to watch.

The pacing in the film is quite uneven and they often try to couple slow paced scenes with fast paced ones that just don’t work well enough side by side.

John Cusack is shown on the posters and even in the trailer, yet his character has a pretty small role which is disappointing.

James Horner’s score helps add a more adventurous feel to the story and is quite fun to listen to.

Check it out here:

Bottom Line – Pretty average adventure story that doesn’t manage to find a way to engage the audience enough. Salenger is fine in her debut role and helps keep the story slightly more intriguing due to her character’s tomboy style. The story isn’t paced well enough and there are some very slow scenes that are coupled with fast paced ones that make things even more strange to watch things unfold. Cusack is shown predominantly on the posters and trailer, yet his role is quite minor. The score by Horner is fun and is able to add a bit to the adventurous feel of the story.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – James Horner replaced Elmer Bernstein as the film’s music composer. According to the website Filmtracks, only two short bits of Bernstein’s score remain in the picture. (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy (5/10)