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HHHHH = max rating contact xpressmovies@aol.com
PICK OF THE WEEK
THEATER LISTINGS
In a World… HHHHH
Friday, september 13 Thursday, september 19 Due to possible scheduling changes, moviegoers may want to confirm showtimes with theaters.
Director: Lake Bell Players: Lake Bell, Fred Melamed, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Alexandra Holden
Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co. (254-1281) Please call the info line for updated showtimes. Turbo 3D (PG) 1:00, 4:00 (All Tue shows in 2D) Pacific Rim (PG-13) 7:00, 10:00
comedy Rated R
Carmike Cinema 10 (298-4452)
The Story: A young woman finds herself breaking down the boys’ club barrier in the world of trailer voice-overs. The Lowdown: Funny, charming, sweet-tempered comedy from first-time writer-director-star Lake Bell. Its fresh setting — the world of voice-over artists — and a perfect cast matched with a clever script make it one of the most appealing movies going right now.
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2 Guns (R) 1:35, 4:30, 7:05, 10:05 Despicable Me 2 2D (PG) 1:15, 4:15, 6:45, 9:15 The Lone Ranger (PG-13) 12:45, 4:00, 7:10, 10:15 The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (PG-13) 1:00, 4:10, 7:15, 10:10
Lake Bell in her charming, funny and generous directorial debut In a World....
Her credits tell me I’ve seen Lake Bell once before — in the execrable Over Her Dead Body (2008) — and I suppose I heard her in Shrek Forever After (2010), but I’ve never noticed her in a way that would make her memorable. (In the case of Over Her Dead Body, that can only be in her favor.) Well, here she is starring in a movie that she also wrote, directed and co-produced. It’s also a movie I will not soon forget, and I mean that in the best way. This is one seriously charming, funny, clever, surprising movie. And it’s made by someone who knows what a tripod and dolly are and isn’t afraid to use them. (I believe there’s one handheld scene in the film — and it’s used where it fits.) It’s a Hollywood satire about an aspect of the movies we think of only in passing, if at all (and then mostly to make fun of it) — the world of the folks who do voice-overs for movie trailers.
The film works on the concept that after the death of real-life voice-over artist Don LaFontaine in 2008, his trademark phrase, “In a world,” was retired from use. Whether that’s true, I don’t know, but bringing the phrase back to the world of trailers is central to the story of Carol Solomon (Bell). Carol — a vocal coach specializing in dialects — is the live-at-home daughter of Sam Sotto (Fred Melamed, A Serious Man), who is second only to LaFontaine in voice-over fame. He’s also a narcissistic, self-important jerk with a brand new 30-year-old trophy girlfriend, Jamie (TV actress Alexandra Holden). In addition, Sam resists Carol’s desire to follow in his footsteps as a voice-over artist. (“The industry does not crave a female sound,” he insists.) His idea of a natural successor to his legacy is smarmy, self-satisfied Gustav Werner (Ken Marino, We’re the Millers). He tells Carol to stick to doing funny accents. Further, Sam’s desire to move Jamie into his house makes it necessary for Carol to move out — there’s no rush, though, Sam tells her, concluding that later that evening would be soon enough. So Carol ends up bunking with her sister, Dani (TV actress
SEPTEMBER 11 - SEPTEMBER 17, 2013
mountainx.com
Michaela Watkins), and her husband, Moe (Rob Corddry, The Way, Way Back). However, things are about to take several interesting turns — the 93 minute film does not lack for incident — the most important of which comes when sound engineer (and long-suffering nice guy “secretly” in love with Carol) Louis (Demetri Martin, Taking Woodstock) lets her do a temporary track for a trailer. It turns out that the studio likes her recording so well that they go with it, rather than bother with the planned final track by Gustav Werner. This ultimately puts her in contention for the honor of reintroducing the hallowed “In a world” phrase on the first trailer for a new “quadrilogy” (no one in the film ever heard the word “tetralogy”) of teen-lit movies. I’m not about to try to detail the plot beyond this. It wouldn’t be possible in the space allowed, but, more to the point, much of the film’s appeal is in encountering its near overload of developments. (That said, I’ve watched the film twice and liked it even better on the second look.) It is a film where so many of the delights are in the details — even when it’s going exactly where you
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