In a World... (2013)

Outstanding! Lead actress Lake Bell makes her feature directing and writing debut with this hilarious yet thoughtful comedy about a woman trying to break into the boys' club of movie trailer voiceovers. I first noticed Bell in her recurring role as Sally in four episodes of The Practice, and 14 of its spin-off Boston Legal. Then I liked her as the bitchy trophy wife in It's Complicated. The script is rich with human interest, relationships, and jokes (she won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance for it), the directing is fluid, and her acting, as Carol, is just right. Michaela Watkins (last blogged in Wanderlust, she had a small part in Enough Said, which I failed to mention, and is in the new series Trophy Wife, which I haven't decided if I like yet and neither does my DVR, which has been erasing shows I want to save. Grrrr) departs from her usual one-note ditzes as Carol's sister Dani. Even more surprising is Rob Corddry (most recently in The Way Way Back) as Dani's husband Moe, in a fully-developed role. Fred Melamed (last in A Serious Man) is funny as Carol and Dani's arrogant father Sam, Demetri Martin (Contagion) is sweet as recording engineer Louis who has a crush on Carol, Ken Marino (was in and co-wrote Wanderlust) is equally funny and arrogant as voice-over artist Gustav, and Tig Notaro (she's a comedian and This American Life contributor--here is her page on the TAL site) and Nick Offerman (We're the Millers) are good as other studio employees.

The real "In a World..." man, Don LaFontaine, who died in 2008, is shown in archive footage over, for a change, the opening credits. You may enjoy a funny bit he did on the Jay Leno show. Look for cameos from Eva Longoria, Geena Davis, and Cameron Diaz (uncredited near the end). And apparently Bell does the voice of Sam's agent. At under a million dollars, this is a "low budget" movie that was completed in 20 days.

Oh, almost forgot the negative reference to Ohio: Rule #8.

There are lots of songs and a nice soundtrack by Ryan Miller (Safety Not Guaranteed), 18 minutes of which are available for your listening pleasure on youtube.

Critics average 91% and audiences 84 on rottentomatoes. We loved this today. You will, too.