Sandwiched between John Williams' career-defining scores for the blockbusters
Jaws and Star Wars sits his work on The Missouri Breaks, an eccentric and flawed
1976 Western starring Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson. While eschewing the
grandiose string arrangements and heroic sweep of the composer's best-known
efforts, it's nevertheless one of Williams' most delightful and ambitious
scores, applying traditional Western instrumentation like guitar, banjo, and
harmonica to melodies rooted in contemporary pop and jazz. It's an approach as
idiosyncratic as the film itself (and if anything only compounds the narrative's
disjointedness), but taken on its own terms The Missouri Breaks is a rare
exercise in subtlety and restraint from Williams' most bombastic period as well
as a potent reminder of his remarkable versatility.