Tony Black reviews the score for CHIPS…
You remember CHiPs right? The 1970’s police drama starring Erik Estrada about two Californian motorcycle cops? No? Yeah, me neither. A hit American TV show, it wasn’t as popular across the Pond and hasn’t particularly retained a place in pop culture as many shows that straddled the less sophisticated 70’s & 80’s (on TV at least) have. Which makes Dax Shepard’s cinematic adaptation all the more baffling – who exactly is CHIPS for? It’s a question many seem to have asked given the negative reviews and poor box office, but thankfully like many bad movies, it doesn’t necessarily get in the way of a decent score. Fil Eisler, not a major name on the composing circuit, won’t blow anyone away with his score for CHIPS but he doesn’t disgrace himself like the rest of the movie. His music in the end may be one of the best elements of a misguided venture.
Eisler at this stage is best known for his work on the hit TV series Empire, after finding some previous small screen success with ABC’s Revenge, but CHIPS may be his most high-profile gig to date. For a film which wants to update and riff on the 70’s TV series and feel of that show, Eisler brings a definite feel of cool edge to proceedings, backed up with hints of the symphonic. His main focus is on traditional, albeit slightly cliche, ‘wacka wacka’ guitar which pulses across his score, really kicking off with an infusion of drums for the pulsating ‘Seven Mary Three in Pursuit’, which throws us into the action Shepard’s Jon & Michael Pena’s Ponch are experiencing.
Eisler’s tracks are short and sweet for the most part and blend into each other fairly well, but after a while there’s a ‘same old’ feeling to the music in CHIPS which, though enjoyable, lacks much in the way of being memorable and independently able to stand away from its movie. You wish for more pieces such as ‘Five Dirty Cops’, the longest track on the score and arguably the most brooding.
It’s probably fitting that CHIPS isn’t likely to be particularly remembered as a score as it’s more than likely swiftly going to be forgotten as a movie. Fil Eisler deserves props though for attempting to create a definite 70’s cop show atmosphere to the picture, mixing a variety of sounds in a concoction that no doubt works better with its movie than as standalone music to enjoy. Let’s forget CHIPS but let’s not consign Eisler to the same dustbin – his score here and the promise of what he may deliver doesn’t deserve to be forgotten.
Rating: 6/10
Tony Black
Originally published March 30, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
