Below the fold is an explanation. No plot spoilers, but you might want to wait until you see V before you read why.

I saw V last night. It was great. At least I think it was -- my emotional connection to the movie kept kept getting deflected by my visceral disgust with the score. It was horrible, manipulative, schmaltzy violin-and-horn drivel, and it kept stepping on the actors' lines! It was like someone left a radio on during the film. Now I can't wait for the DVD so I can see if they put the music on a separate audio channel so I can mute it. Then I'll actually be able to watch the film. You'd think that when the protagonist is wearing a mask and speaks in a low, accented voice, that the director would tell the composer, "Let's make sure people can hear what he's saying." I found myself hoping for another scene with the cops since their dry wit seemed to be an inoculation against the schmaltz flu.

Maybe it's just me. The people I saw it with didn't seem to notice or mind that in every important dialogue scene the strings would come on *way* in advance and tell you *exactly* how you were supposed to feel by the end of it -- effectively preempting any authentic emotional reaction. I'm convinced, however, that they really were afftected by it subliminally, and their impression of the movie suffered; the nuances and pacing and emotional arcs of the excellent performances by the leads were drowned and smothered and oversimplified, and they'll come away thinking, "ehh, it was ok," and blame the actors or director or writers.

Bill, if this is how you feel when people sitting next to you are talking, then I apologize from the bottom of my heart. But at least my dumb jokes don't make it onto the god damned soundtrack.

Can any filmmakers enlighten me as to how this happens? Was it a simple case that nobody noticed? Or that the director was in the producers' shadow so didn't feel he could assert himself over the composer?

Oh yeah, the editing was bad too -- many scenes were rushed, especially the crucial opening. But I was quite pleased with the writing and the acting. Hugo did a phenomenal job of conveying emotion without a face, and Natalie busted out the acting chops we were all hoping she really had all along. And as expected, the lines from the comic were the best ones, and there were enough of them to keep me satisfied.