Great World of Sound (2007) Reviews

• Talent search company looks for budding musicians to be ripped off

  rasecz2007-04-29

  A musician talent search company, Great World of Sound (GWS), trains salesmen to go out and find talent. Once found, the deal pressed on the budding musicians is that they have to commit to paying 30% of the costs of producing and distributing CDs. Some of that money is extracted before the artist sets foot in a recording studio. Cash or a check payable to GWS, which also happens to be the initials of the owner. Sounds fishy? You bet it is. The point of this comedy is that the musicians are not the only suckers in this scam; the salesmen are too. The ultimate crooks are the company bosses who close shop and disappear when enough money has been collected. The salesmen are lucky if they get their last paycheck. The performers you see are actual musicians. Eighty percent of them did not know ahead of time that the auditions given in cheap motel rooms were fake. What you see and hear is the real thing. Twenty percent knew they were filmed but did not know what the filmmaker's project was about. Only two of the performers were scripted. There are a lot of auditions. The film comes close to having one too many. Best word play: one of the bosses talks about GWS begin a "conduit for talent". Read "con-duit".

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• It's honest, it feels right, it's entertaining...but...but...it just doesn't go for it

  secondtake2011-02-18

  Great World of Sound (2007) I've suddenly grown tired of Indie films like this. And there are a lot of them. So this is a bad vibes review. Sorry. Here's what I mean. There is a clever plot here, as usual, and some great low key acting, and the most drab and functional photography and editing. That's understandable (if not forgivable--good photography is free, but that's another story). But what's with the awkward nerdy reclusive oddball main characters. They're lovable, and I suppose they are meant to be a counterpart to the glitz of Hollywood's stars. But they are starting to imitate themselves. That is, I think Indie producers and directors and eventually actors are playing, on purpose, Indie parts, with an Indie style. It's lovable, but it's worn thin. So here we are, with a cute and slightly clever plot about the well known scam of small time record companies (quote unquote) who suck the millions of aspiring musicians into spending money on CDs that will never get airplay. I've seen it happen to a few people, over time, and there have even been dangles of fame, a has been musician wandering through the studio at the same time, that kind of thing. Who doesn't have a thousand dollars once in a lifetime for a dream that might not come true? Why not die knowing you wasted a little money for that good intention? And so these two very nice, somewhat naive men fall into the racket. They are victims themselves, and they create a trail of victims behind them. It's really charming and warm and maddening in all the right proportions. It's a pretty good story. But it's very mediocre, too, on purpose. It doesn't strive for greatness in the old sense of the "art of the cinema," as Hitchcock would say. This is about modest means, but also modest goals. And so the goals get met, and we have a modest movie. Enjoyable, yes. Amazing, no. Not even a little. And for me, I'd rather have a failed attempt at amazing than a successful stab at pretty darned good. Go ahead, have some fun watching it, and forgive me.

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• Entertaining movie that sticks with you after..

  bigsurfing2008-01-31

  Very well done and entertaining film that shows the worst side of the music business (is there a good side?). The character who played Clarence did an amazing job and really carried the film. The film is about fly by night music producers and the salesmen they hire to swindle would be musicians out of their money. You are left feeling a little sick about the subject matter, as you know it goes on everyday. Not just in music - this structure can and is applied to many different types of businesses. It targets both the folks looking for a career on the business end and the ones looking to create a career in the business. Obviously a low budget film, but it's shot pretty well and the casting was great, as mentioned "clarence" played by Kene Holliday, was standout. Hopefully this opens some doors for him, as he's a very entertaining actor. His co-star, Healy (martin) does a good job as well, however a tad on the stiff/boring side.

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• A subtle study in sales ethics

  maple-22007-06-30

  I wonder who is orchestrating the campaign to discredit this movie by voting in a block against it. I suspect that many of those 43 people voting a 2 have never seen it, and are simply responding to a viral effort to kill the film. But I cannot figure out what the puppeteers found objectionable with this movie. The film itself has the feel of a low intensity Glengarry Glen Ross, without the claustrophobia or the cursing. With the passion and eagerness of aspiring musicians as a backdrop, this is really a story of the salesmen who allow themselves to be duped into believing that they are actually helping others. Great World of Sound features some nice performances by the leads: Pat Healy as the reticent Martin and Carver Johns as his loquacious and exuberant partner Walter. All in all there is some ethical subtlety here. But that might be hard to detect if you've been a victim of a similar scam.

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• The feel-bad comedy of the year!

  rooprect2013-01-15

  Although this is a very good movie, it's hard to say I "enjoyed" it because it's so painfully accurate. The world is full of dreamers and predators. This movie uses the music industry (perfect setting!) to illustrate the sad state of this "food chain". How, you ask, could this be a comedy? It doesn't have many big zingers, no silly hijinks, it's not a satire. The best description is to say it's like a documentary or reality show, exposing the two-facedness of good intentions. not exactly "haha funny" but funny in a sinister way that's hard to describe. The comedy comes mostly from the colorful characters and sheer bizarreness of the situations. In that respect it's kind of like "Pulp Fiction", the hyper-violent, disturbing Tarantino film which manages to be a comedy due to the colorful characters in the story. Like in "Pulp Fiction", here we get a lot of corny banter between the main characters Martin & Clarence, and all the while they're doing horrible things to innocent people's dreams. Unlike Pulp, this movie carries a strong moral statement which is what makes it even more serious. There are some powerful dramatic scenes where Martin & Clarence come to grips with what they're doing, each in his own interesting way. There is a stunningly powerful speech delivered by Clarence near the end which basically sums up everything that's wrong with the music industry and the human race. Don't miss it. There aren't many movies like this, so if you're in the mood for something original, do not hesitate to watch it. Also if you're in the music biz (particularly a fledgling artist wondering how to break in to the big time) SEE THIS MOVIE. You most definitely will encounter these types of con artists in the business, and this movie serves as a great warning. Or you can thank your lucky stars that you never met anyone like them. Movies I'd compare this to include: "Pumpkin" a pseudo satire of sorority life (and human society) starring Christina Ricci, "Believe!" a funny film about self-help salesmen, and maybe the Matt Damon flick "The Informant!" which isn't much like this movie, but it carries the same subtle humor where there are no big laughs but instead the bizarreness of it all makes you smirk throughout. Oh a final word about the music. Not talking about the satirically mediocre performances in the on-screen auditions, but the actual soundtrack itself is quite nice. Simple yet powerful brooding songs that really add to the atmosphere. Again, if you're a musician or a fan of music, definitely check this one out.

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