Sundance Film Review: “In A World”

Carol Solomon (Lake Bell) is a struggling vocal coach. Propelled by the hubris of her father, Sam Sotto (Fred Melamed), the reigning king of movie-trailer voice-over artists, Carol musters the courage to pursue her secret aspiration to be a voice-over star. Her fiery sister, Dani (Michaela Watkins), becomes a trusted confidante, and Carol engages the skills of a charming sound techie named Louis (Demitri Martin). Armed with renewed confidence, Carol guns for her first major voice-over gig—a primo spot,  and that’s where the real trouble begins. Carol becomes entangled in a web of dysfunction, sexism, unmitigated ego, and pride.

The sharp and quick Bell has crafted a wonderfully bright script with a light feministic touch that seems to weave itself around the actors who feel as if they know this material like the back of their hands – it’s rhythmic combinations and industry insider jokes are just the right key to keep even the most Sitcom-adverse audience member WANTING to pay attention, even if its for possible random cameos or a quick chuckle.

Every actor on screen leaves a mark on the viewer’s mind that (even for a comedy) are not broad and laughable but roundly conceived. Bell’s  Carol is a  charmingly neurotic, self-depracating woman simply trying to navigate her life choices and daily routines. Fred Melamed’s Sam is as large and intimidating as they get. Demetri Martin is lovable to watch as the awkwardly funny audio engineer Louis.

So should you see In A World – that’s a solid yes. Funny can be a hard dose to take from time-to-time but viewers who catch this year’s Waldo Salt Award Winner, will easy feel its sweet and subtle charm envelope them. The only downside is that currently Ms. Bell’s film hasn’t been picked up for distribution so our best bet to see the release may be  VOD – that being said (and fingers crossed) perhaps HBO will take note from Leah Dunham and craft another winning series to finally put Lake Bell’s talent out front where it should have been all along.

Note: the previous review is a partial article, for the full review, please visit Matt’s Film site HERE

– Matt Miles, Producer of Fresh Roasted Films