Great World of Sound

One of the more interesting indie-film surprises of 2007, Great World of Sound plays like a poor-man's Glengarry Glen Ross, only in this case the scam involves the elusive dream of music industry success. With nothing better to do, Martin (Pat Healy) and his boisterous partner Clarence (Kene Holliday) sign up with a fly-by-night talent-scouting operation called "Great World of Sound," for which they will scour the back roads of America in a futile quest for the Next Big Thing. Why futile? Because "GWS" is a con game, and most of the clients they audition (who are required to pay a large percentage of the demo recording fee) wouldn't even qualify for the early rounds of American Idol (the wretched parade of "talent" that appears here are actually amateur musicians who were unsuspecting participants in the filmmaking process, not told until afterwards—when they signed permission releases—that their "auditions" were phony). As life on the road wears them out, Martin and Clarence gradually realize that their "big opportunity" as talent scouts is, in fact, just another dead-end detour in their disappointing lives. Director and co-writer Craig Zobel has crafted a painfully honest and frequently hilarious portrait of American bottom-feeders who gain precious kernels of wisdom while their dreams slowly fritter away. A quirky low-budget gem, this is recommended. (J. Shannon)