The curious world of voiceover artists provides rich pickings for the debut comedy from actress Lake Bell (the best thing in so-so romcoms like ‘What Happens in Vegas’). She writes, directs and stars as Carol, a voice coach who dreams of following in the footsteps of her dad, Sam (Fred Melamed), whose velvet tones have graced many a movie trailer. Rumour has it there’s a new gig – resurrecting the classic trailer phrase [deep voice]: ‘In a World...’. But is this chauvinistic industry ready to listen to a woman?
Carol is endearing, slightly chaotic and just the right side of kooky. There’s a sweet potential romance here, but the focus is equally on career and family. ‘In a World…’ feels like a passion project, but Bell goes easy on the preaching and heavy on the laughs without losing her feminist message. Like her character, Bell has suddenly made herself a contender in a male-dominated industry. And a damn funny one at that.