Los Angeles, CA (Top40 Charts/ CineMedia Promotions) Lakeshore Records will release the GAMBIT - Original
Soundtrack digitally and as a disc-on-demand on May 13, 2014. The album features original music by Rolfe Kent (Labor Day, Sideways).
"It's quite a jazzy/swing score," Kent described. "That came mostly from the way Harry [Colin Firth's character] moves around the Savoy Hotel; it had such a fun, quirkily nimble flair, and it pushed me in a sort of Mancini direction."
The unexpected textures and sounds of instruments are the hallmarks of musician Rolfe Kent, composer of more than 40 films, including the 2014 releases of Labor Day, The Vampire Academy, and Bad Words, along with Sideways (Golden
Globe and Critics' Choice nominated score), About Schmidt, Election, Mean Girls, Nurse Betty, Legally Blonde, Wedding Crashers, Just Like Heaven, The Matador, Thank You For Smoking, Reign Over Me, The Hunting Party, 17 Again,
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, The Men Who Stare At Goats, and Up In The Air. Kent received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Main Title Theme for the hit Showtime series Dexter.
Rolfe Kent has the distinction of attracting and sustaining relationships with directors as popular and diverse as
Alexander Payne (The Descendants, Sideways, About Schmidt, Citizen Ruth, Election), Mark Waters (Mean Girls, Just Like Heaven, Freaky Friday,
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Mr. Popper's Penguins), Richard Shepard (Reign Over Me, The Matador, The Hunting Party, Mexico City, Oxygen, Mercy) and Jason Reitman (Labor Day, Thank You For Smoking, Up in the Air). Kent was honored at the 2010 Vision Awards - also honored that year were Dan Rather, Steve Jobs, and Buzz Aldrin. In 2012 Kent was awarded BMI's Richard Kirk Award for outstanding achievement in film and television music.
"Michael [Hoffman, director] was great at guiding the precise tone of any moment, and so there was lots of back and forth as we got the feel just right," said Kent.
In GAMBIT an art curator (Colin Firth) decides to seek revenge on his abusive boss (Alan Rickman) by conning him into buying a fake Monet, but his plan requires the help of an eccentric and unpredictable
Texas rodeo queen (Cameron Diaz).
"The first thing I tackled was the whole sequence near the start of the film where Harry Deane lays out the plan," Kent explained. "It's got a strong sense of character and momentum, so it was ideal for getting into some thematic music, and for me to get a handle on the film."
"There are themes for the main characters, and then there are also themes for certain emotions," Kent continued. "There is a love theme for the relationship between PJ and Harry, and there's a big timpani-drum led motif for Alan Rickman's bold and self-confident Shabandar character. Colin Firth's Harry has a few different themes, for when he's pensive, when he's on a caper, or when he's simply being himself."
GAMBIT will be available on DVD and Video on Demand on May 27, 2014. GAMBIT - Original Motion Picture
Soundtrack from Lakeshore Records will be available digitally and as a disc-on-demand on May 13, 2014.
