Great World of Sound (2007)

One good thing about this movie is that the cheap indie feel for once works in a flick's favor. The record-company executives are seen to be scam artists (by us) from the very beginning. We see gold records being spray-painted as the opening credits roll. But the men sucked into the scheme only gradually become aware that they're conning people. You have to suspend some disbelief to accept that it takes them so long to figure it out.The plot focuses on two of the "record producers," played by Pat Healy and Kene Holliday, who go on the road to audition local talent and persuade the bands to make a contribution to the production of their records. One of them gets really good at it, and is more reluctant than the other one to get out of the game.The movie has a lot of rough spots and a few bright spots. Kene Holliday's performance is quite good.The brightest spots were the auditions of all the local acts. I loved every one of them. It seems clear that they really were amateur performers -- bands, singers, songwriters, some good, most not so good -- and I could not imagine how they were lured into making a movie about exploitation of bad local bands, and having their performances immortalized on celluloid. The editing of the auditions was perfect, so we never get bored with them. The dialog between Healy's and Holliday's characters as they sell their operation to the suckers seems improvised, and skillfully improvised.The movie as a whole just sags too often, and when it does Pat Healy is always the main character on screen. He goes through the entire movie as if drugged, and at the end his character loses all credibility. Well, that's not his fault, I guess, since the script was the script; too bad he didn't get to improvise more.I predict most people will not be able to sit through the whole movie, but don't give up before the auditions start.

This flick was an all around great film. It was a moving story that definitely gets you thinking and implants morals. The actors in this film really make you feel along with them. I watched this movie 3 days ago and I am still thinking about it. That's the test of a great movie, it gets you thinking and keeps you thinking.I plan to recommend this to my family and friends, as well as obviously anyone looking to rent it. I was very impressed with everything about this film, I would love to see more like it!! The thirst for a dream comes at a price, but where do you draw the line? Do you fulfill you dream while crushing others?

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.

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".