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.
