In a World...

Ms. Bell, who plays Carol with a perfect blend of diffidence, goofiness and charm, has written and directed an insightful comedy that is much more complex and ambitious than it sometimes seems.

It’s not only a fresh and funny spoof of the movie business, it represents a real-life triumph within it.

Bell goes easy on the preaching and heavy on the laughs without losing her feminist message.

It’s hard to imagine the lives behind the voices that are part of the movies. But In a World ..., the debut feature from actress-turned-writer-director Lake Bell, not only gives the people who do movie voice-overs a closeup, it savvily and wittily uses what we hear as a metaphor for what we are.

In fact, Bell the writer, director, producer and actress knows how to set a savvy trap. While we're laughing, she pulls the rug out, making us see Carol's world as a microcosm for the world every working woman lives in. That she does it with subtlety, humor and touching gravity marks Bell as a filmmaker to watch.

My own voice-over would go something like this: “This summer. One woman. Will see this movie. Again.”

With so many ideas to work with, why does Bell infantilize her elsewhere-confident main character as yet another disheveled woman-child?

In terms of freshness, this entertaining comedy is unique. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever explored the behind-the-scenes world of the voice-over artist. Many films have shown the trials and tribulations that thespians have to bear when the camera is rolling, but rarely do we see what goes on inside the sound booth. Lake Bell is the director, screenplay writer, and star of this film. She is a gifted mimic who can do a number of authentic-sounding accents, and has apparently been experimenting and practicing since childhood. This film provides her with a perfect vehicle to showcase her prodigious talents. The story focuses on a young voice actress (Bell), who is trying to make a name for herself in the male-dominated world of voice-over. Her own father (Fred Melamed) is a living voice-over legend, and although he patronizes his daughter and encourages her to continue with her activities as a voice coach, he is extremely critical of her talent and dismisses the idea that she can ever achieve the same stature as her father. The film opens with dad telling his 30-year-old daughter, who is still living at home, that his young mistress is moving in, and he would appreciate it if she moved out that evening. She can't afford her own place, so she packs up and moves in with her married sister (Michaela Watkins). She then begins the daunting task of competing with the best male voice-over artists in Hollywood, stealing jobs from under their noses, but her real challenge is when she has to compete against her own father. The movie is inspired by the late Don LaFontaine, who, unknown to most moviegoers, is the most legendary voice-over artist who ever lived. He is famous for his melodious baritone voicing the introductory words, “In a world...,” a phrase that is said to be owned by his estate, although it is unclear how such a mundane phrase can be owned by anyone. In the invisible realm that exists within the sound booth, we see a world that parallels the more famous and familiar side of Hollywood. The voice artists have their own superstars, their own casting calls, their own awards ceremony—and, as depicted in the film, they even give out their own lifetime achievement award. It's a universe onto itself, and one that is largely hidden from the public. Being a master of one's voice involves taking care of one's voice the way a ballerina would take care of her feet. The film shows voice actors doing exercises that are almost comical, such as putting a cork in one's mouth and repeating all the vowels. Bell's character, Carol, is an ambitious, nervous, and hyperactive young woman whose antics are highly amusing—every time she lands a job and makes progress with her career, she does a little dance of joy that involves twirling her hoodie in circles while she gyrates hilariously, sticking her rear end in and out in a manner that may well be inimitable. Bell's character has a real gripe with young women whose voices are misused to be seductively childlike, an accent that Bell has a problem with in real life as well. She calls it the “sexy baby squeak.” It must be a southern California thing, because I have never met a teenager or a grown woman who talks like that, although I have occasionally heard this accent in Hollywood comedies (and there is a demonstration of the baby squeak in the film). Bell has said in interviews that she strongly objects to this accent, which she calls a dialect, because it makes intelligent women sound stupid. One has to admit that Bell's vocal tones are resonant and silvery, although you might ask why an intelligent performer such as she would make YouTube videos that show her prancing around in her underwear. Should she not be as concerned about looking stupid as she is about sounding stupid? Bell, however, pulls it off gracefully even though it's a shame that even the brilliant actresses have to show off their wares to attract the attention of [male] directors. [Revised 8/10/17]

The daughter of a well known voice-over artist tries to crack the family business, facing tough competition from her father and his egotistical a-hole of a protegé. Despite a wealth of great comedians scattered about the cast, this isn't all that funny, even when a few short scenes seem to exist solely to lob softballs. The flirty romance that develops between leading lady Lake Bell (who also directs) and bashful everyman Demetri Martin is sweet and real, but only serves as a brief distraction from the ponderous central storyline. A cute concept that fails to blossom into anything of special substance.

Interesting but talky. If you like a lot of dialogue this is your movie. It's a slice of life with an interesting point of view and the dialogue is written and delivered well. More of an "I've got some friends who are kind of interesting but it gets old after a while" kind of feel.

Just wrote this to get the score down, because this is probably one of the few movies I don't agree with the critics. Watched this movie like 2 weeks ago and can't seem to remember much of it, this tells me this movie isn't all that great... If you like your movies sci fi and a lot of action don't watch this movie, it really just bored me... Just my opinion

Bell has a future writing bad sitcoms for television, as that is what this movie felt like to me. People do not converse normally and although it had a few laughs, most fell flat for me. As an example, the conversation between the neighbor who needs to borrow the shower (she had plumbing problems) and Gary had me moaning it was so unrealistic and silly and LONG. Still, I did think the acting was good throughout and the pacing was good. If you hate silly madcap TV sitcoms, you won't like this movie.