“In a World…” is an entertaining first-time feature film for Lake Bell.  The film is a romantic comedy indie film that is a lot of fun because it is unique, awkward and just a quirky non-banal film. “In a World…” is recommended!
© 2013 In A World, LLC. All Rights Reserved. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: In a World…
FILM RELEASE DATE: 2013
DURATION: 93 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 2:40:1 Aspect Ratio, English and French 5.1 DTS-HD MA, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
COMPANY: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
RATED: R (For Language and Some Sexual References)
Release Date: January 21, 2014
Directed by Lake Bell
Written by Lake Bell
Produced by Lake Bell, Mark Robers, Jett Steiger, Eddie Vaisman
Co-Producer: David Grace
Executive Producer: Ross Jacboson, Sean King O’Grady
Music by Ryan Miller
Cinematography by Seamus Tierney
Edited by Tom McArdle
Production Design by Megan Fenton
Art Direction by Ashley Fenton
Set Decoration by Elizabeth Garner
Costume Design by Lindy McMichael
Starring:
Lake Bell as Carol
Rob Corddry as Moe
Alexandra Holden as Jamie
Eva Longoria as herself
Ken Marino as Gustav
Demetri Martin as Louis
Fred Melamed as Sam
Tig Notaro as Cher
Nick Offerman as Heners
Michaela Watkins as Dani
Geena Davis as Katherine Huling
Stephanie Allynne as Nancy
Melissa Disney as Melinda Chisney
Olya Milova as Mimi
In this hilarious and idiosyncratic comedy, Carol (Lake Bell, No Strings Attached) is an underachieving voice coach living in the shadow of her egotistical father Sam (Fred Melamed, A Serious Man), the undisputed king of the voice-over industry. When Sam kicks her out, Carol lands her first voice-over job with the help of charming sound engineer Louis (Demetri Martin, “Important things with Demetri Martinâ€). As romantic sparks begin to fly, Carol finds herself facing a momentous decision when continued job offers put her in head to head competition with her dad. The engaging supporting cast includes Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins and Ken Marino with cameos by Eva Longoria and Geena Davis.
Actress Lake Bell may be known for her roles in films such as “What Happens in Vegas”, “No Strings Attached”, “It’s Complicated” or TV series such as “Childrens Hospital” and “How to Make it In America”.
But Lake also is also a writer and filmmaker, having directed episodes for “Childrens Hospital” and written and directed two shorts (“Worst Enemy” and “El Tonto”), the actress has written, directed and produced her first feature film titled “In a World…” and also playing the main character role.
Noticing there are no notable female voice talent for film trailers with the exception of “Gone in 60 Seconds” voiced by Melissa Disney, this inspired Lake to write, directed and produce a film about a woman wanting to break into an industry that is predominantly all men.
The film’s title is inspired by famous voice talent Don LaFontaine who has voiced thousands of film trailers, advertisements and promotions, and is best known for saying “In a World…”.
The film received positive reviews from film critics and now, “In a World…” will be released on Blu-ray in Jan. 2013.
“In a World…” begins with shots of Don LaFontaine and features the King of Voice-overs Sam Soto (portrayed by Fred Melamed), a man who is publishing an autobiography and is about to receive a lifetime achievement award.
His adult daughter Carol Solomon (portrayed by Lake Bell) is a vocal coach trying to make it, but for now she lives with her father and dreams of being a female voice over and loves to re-enact voice overs of films.
While her best friend Louis (portrayed by Demetri Martin) is supportive of her vocals, Carol has not yet scored any major jobs. She often loves to record people on her digital recorder and try to re-enact their situations by doing a voice over. But her ability of not finding success has led her father to kick her out of the house, as he intends to have his young girlfriend Jamie (portrayed by Alexandra Holden) move in.
Upset by this, Carol moves in with her older sister Dani (portrayed by Michaela Watkins) and her husband Moe (portrayed by Rob Corddry). Often trying to use her sister’s situation in life or her work at a hotel as ideas to record her emotions and do a voice over with it.
Meanwhile, the popular series “The Amazon Games” is set for a film adaptation and are looking for a voice to utilize Don LaFontaine’s “In a World…” line.
Sam decides not to go for it and believes the role is suited for the next man in for voice-overs, Gustav Warner (portrayed by Ken Marino). When Gustav has laryngitis, Louis needs someone to come by and calls Carol to do a temp track in his place.
Sure enough, her voice attracts the executive producer and Carol is offered the job, and a few other jobs to go with it.
But things tend to go astray when Carol hooks up with Gustav Warner at a party (not knowing that he is a good friend of her father’s) and Louis, who has always loved Carol, is disturbed to hear from others about what Carol has done.
Meanwhile, Carol talks to Dani at the hotel where she works and finds out an Irishman has been flirting with her. Carol asks her sister to record her conversation on her digital tape recorder of her with the man, but somehow their conversation leads to something more. And to make things worse, Dani’s husband Moe has listened to the tape recording.
So, as things appear to go from good to worse to people around her, when Carol tries to tell her father the good news about the roles that she got as a voice over (and expecting him to be proud of her), her father finds out that she had a fling with Gustav Warner and is disappointed in the fact that she has become a voice over professional and vows to compete for the “The Amazon Games” role and have his daughter replaced.
In an industry that tends to employ only male voice-overs, can Carol’s dream as a voice-over come true? Especially now that the top two men in the industry, her father and Gustav are also competing for the role.
VIDEO:
“In a World…” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:40:1 aspect ratio). Picture quality for the film is very good, close ups of characters show very good detail including actor Fred Melamed’s hairy body, skin tones are natural, vibrant colors look very good.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“In a World…” is presented in English and French 5.1 DTS-HD MA and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. The film is primarily dialogue and music driven and is primarily center and front-channel driven. But dialogue and music is crystal clear!
Subtitles are in English, English SDH, French and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“In a World…” comes with the following special features:
- Audio Commentary – Audio commentary from writer, director, producer and actress Lake Bell.
- Deleted Scenes – (14:23) Featuring nine deleted scenes including an alternate opening.
- Gag Reel – (3:57) Outtakes from “In a World…”.
- In a World… Promos – (5:20) Featuring six promos for “In a World…”.
I have to give a lot of credit to actress Lake Bell for being inspired by the lack of female voice-overs in film trailers and creating a movie about a woman, a daughter of a man who is the “King of the voice-overs” but wants to follow her dad’s footsteps of having a career in the industry despite not knowing if it will achieve any positive results.
The character of Carol is awkward but the character is also hilarious and unusual because she records everyone and is often speaking in a Don LaFontaine style (for those who are familiar with the golden voice of film trailers and the words that the film’s titled is named after, will no doubt have a kick out of watching this film). Carol is a struggling voice coach who may not have had success in her career as a voice-over star, but she’s trying and somehow, she has made impact on the way people speak.
But everyone around her is so awkward just as she is, in her own way.
You have comedian Demetri Martin as Carol’s friend Louis, who always liked her.
Carol’s father is an older man, always trying to push his daughter away from voice-overs and often critical of his daughters, is dating a young woman. His voice-over heir, Gustav Warner is cocky and his first move on Carol is not kissing on her lips but sucking her nose in, not once, but twice. Which was an unusual scene that you can’t help but laugh.
And then you have these cameos by Eva Longaria, Cameron Diaz (albeit a trailer for “The Amazon Games”), Jeff Garlin and more! So, I’m pretty happy various talents featured in the film came to support Bell’s feature film debut and participate.
As for the Blu-ray, “In a World…” features vibrant colors, closeups that are very detailed (this includes seeing Fred Melamed’s hairy body), natural skin tones and just very good picture quality overall. While lossless audio is primarily dialogue and music-driven and love the taste of the ’80s with Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”. And there are quite a few special features as well!
Overall, “In a World…” is an entertaining first-time feature film for Lake Bell.  The film is a romantic comedy indie film that is a lot of fun because it is unique, awkward and just a quirky non-banal film. I hope to see Lake Bell have more directorial opportunities in the near future and her directorial film debut “In a World…” is recommended!
