Craig Zobel’s Great World of Sound is an account of a scam by the fools instructed to orchestrate it. It is a moral film about two men desperate for a job that seems to give hope to others. Martin and Clarence meet in training and hook up for the road trips. It is Clarence who delivers the final revelation.
Pat Healy’s Martin is self- deprecating and moping in his life. Kene Holliday’s Clarence is a powerhouse of emotion and slick sales. Together they function on the road signing new artists. The auditions they conduct are reminiscent of the audition scene in Miike’s Audition where the good and bad are seen so fast it is both humorous and sad. It is also the standout point of the film. Martin’s girlfriend Pam (Rebecca Mader) seems under used on film. Their relationship is not fleshed out in the scenes it is given. Robert Longstreet’s Layton is slick and clean, and the hard sell.
Great World of Sound is filled with many problems. The pacing of the film never seems fluid. Pat Healy’s Martin seems wooden in performance throughout. The film plods along in search of a meaning and waits too long to find it. It doesn’t reach out to the audience but stays stagnant. A stronger production budget might have helped, but it appears that the screenplay never reached the high drama moments. Great World of Sound is like the performers who audition in it, wanting something bigger, and not reaching it.