It’s not easy to follow in the footsteps of Randy Newman, even for Randy Newman, given the diminishing returns of the sequels to the undeniably great MEET THE PARENTS. And while the third time isn’t a charm for the at-times amusing LITTLE FOCKERS, composer Stephen Trask certainly does his darndest to make things funny.
Given his broadest comedy to score for his fourth pairing with director Paul Weitz after their clever work with IN GOOD COMPANY, AMERICAN DREAMZ and THE VAMPIRE’S ASSISTANT, Trask makes the wise choice of stepping into Randy Newman’s shoes at first. It’s a nice job of replicating the previous scores horn-topped menace that stands for the inevitable screw-ups that Greg Focker will make with his ever-disapproving, ex CIA father-in-law Jack Byrnes.
Most of FOCKERS plays the comedic, orchestral brooding of the impending beat-down that Greg’s going to get, especially given Jack’s elevation to GODFATHER heights here (also allowing for no end of Nino Rota parodying). Trask’s cute, antic score also pours on the acoustic energy, with a bit of Latin and Indian energy to spare. But easily the funniest music on display is a collision of Hanukkah Harry and St. Nick’s classic melodies for “Oy Vey, Chistmaka,” a mash-up that hints at the should-a, could-a seditious sequel that FOCKERS may have been. Given the expected slow-burn pratfalls he’s got to hit, Trask never fails to fulfill the story’s expectations with tuneful enthusiasm.
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