Posts tagged Tig Notaro

“Too Amateurish”

“Hotshots” looks at a movie!

In a World… takes its title from the opening words made famous by legendary voiceover artist Don LaFontaine from the many promos and movie previews he recorded in Hollywood.

Lake Bell wrote, directed, and stars as Carol Solomon in this film about the voiceover industry in Hollywood, which we are told is sexist, in that very few women are used as voiceover artists.

Now, we know how Hollywood likes to make movies about itself, but if most of those self-absorbed movies are about as interesting as insiders inspecting their own belly buttons, this one about an aspect of Hollywood that is less known than making films themselves is, could be dismissed as being so self-absorbed and self-indulgent that it is as interesting as insiders inspecting their belly buttons and their toes for toe jam.

However, it does contain some subplots that are intended to make the film more interesting, such as the lousy way that Carol’s father treats her and her older sister, Danielle.

For example, at the beginning of the movie Carol is living at home with her widowed father, who comes home one day and tells Carol, “Jamie is going to be moving in, you’re going to have to find another place to live.”

Jamie is Sam’s girlfriend, and she is the stereotypical dumb blonde bimbo, a character included in movies written by lazy writers to get some cheap laughs.

So, Carol, who makes her living as a vocal coach, moves in with her sister, who works as a concierge at a fancy hotel.

However, Carol would like to break into the voiceover business, where Sam is well known and respected as a voiceover artist.

A search is on for a voiceover artist to record the promos for an upcoming series of films known as The Amazon Games, and Carol would like to get that gig, knowing that her father desperately wants that job himself.

Then there are other subplots involving Louis, an engineer at the recording studio where Carol works, who would like to go out with Carol, but he is too shy to ask, and a guest at the hotel where Danielle works is interested in Danielle, which causes problems in Danielle’s personal life.

The main plot and all the subplots are like belly buttons and toe jam.

In a World… is too amateurish.

I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”