Director
Pat O'Connor
's
Sweet November
(2001) is a remake of the identically titled 1968 film by
Robert Ellis Miller
about a woman who takes on as lovers a succession of insecure men whom she helps to overcome their uncertainties before moving on, at the rate of one per month. This unlikely romantic scenario may be the basis for such songs as
k.d. lang
"The Consequences of Falling"
and
Tracy Dawn
"You Deserve to Be Loved"
on the various-artists compilation billed as "music from the motion picture." Other songs treat issues of love and relationships in ways less closely related to the plot. The album contains recent recordings by such popular artists as
Enya
Barenaked Ladies
, and there are previously unreleased tracks by
Stevie Nicks
Paula Cole
, who is joined by
Dolly Parton
. The
Nicks
song is minor but unobjectionable, while the
Cole
tune indulges in her usual tendency toward preciousness and bad poetry. "There is a diamond inside of me that lights up the sky in my soul," she declares in a bewildering mixture of metaphors at the outset, and things go downhill from there. The album also contains vintage tracks by
Jackie Wilson
Bobby Darin
for the kind of musical mix that makes no sense outside the context of the movie, but may be enjoyable as an aural souvenir to those who have seen the film. ~ William Ruhlmann