With Great World of Sound, filmmaker Craig Zobel has hit upon a chord equal parts humorous, poignant and bittersweet, along the way crafting an utterly astonishing, innovative and moving film. From frame to frame, the investment with characters Martin (Pat Healy) and Clarence (Kene Holliday) and the audience makes itself fluidly.

Based on the experiences of Zobel’s father who had unknowingly worked in Atlanta for a song-sharking scam, the screenplay follows Martin, a relatively good guy who by the end of the film digs out a bitter part of himself. Travelling around the country with friend Clarence, Martin is enlisted to find new musical talent and sign participants up for a studio deal at a nominal fee of 30 percent of the production costs. The grand total in most cases ranges from 900 to 3000 dollars. Progressively, as Martin begins to see the scam unfold, his integrity gets in the way of his work, a fact which shakes up the bonds between the working partners.

The quiet sweetness of Pat Healy (Magnolia, Ghost World, City on a Hill) renders the moral crisis a trainwreck, a process hard to watch as the scam flows deeper. Conversely, the bouyant enthusiasm of Kene Holliday (”Matlock”, Bulworth, The Immaculate Misconception) on screen allows equally for connections to be forged and broken by the relative discomfort induced by his tenacity.

At the same time, Zobel chose to intercut into the narrative documentary footage of real musicians trying out for a faked audition. Unwittingly, the musicians went through the pitch with the actors, and afterward were informed by the filmmakers of the true nature of the project.

Recently picked up by Magnolia Pictures for distribution, Great World of Sound is a film which should be well-noted and watched multiple times. Seeking out the best and worst of humanity, it proves that all righteousness calls for a balance, even when we wish we could always err on the side of the good.

For more information on the film, visit the filmmakers here.

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