In a World...

First Hit:  Although a bit rough in execution, it was very entertaining and adoringly quirky.

The title has to do with a marque saying in voiceover work. It was made famous by a legendary voice over man who has now passed on.

The man long considered the second in command in this field Sam (Fred Melamed) is going to receive a life achievement award for his work, while his daughter Carol (Lake Bell), who wants to do voiceover work gets very little work and has to make a living from doing voice coaching.

The voice over business is mostly controlled by men and it has its characters. Carol’s sister Jamie (Alexandra Holden) supports Carol by letting her stay with her and her husband Moe (Rob Corddry). In the studio that Carol uses for her minor voiceover work and coaching is an engineer named Louis (Demetri Martin) who likes Carol a lot but cannot seem to find the wherewithal to ask Carol out on a date.

As this story unfolds it is about how Carol gets some jobs and then lands the big one over the up and comer Gustav (Ken Marino) and her father.

Bell is great as Carol, wrote an interesting screenplay and directed herself and the other actors with an effortless that showed up in many scenes. Although some scenes didn’t seen complete, others will beautiful and well-acted (Carol staying ad Louis’ house was priceless). Melamed was perfect as the ego driven overindulged old timer of the business. Holden was very good as the sister who seemed to be struggling with her life but finds its base by learning from one mistake. Corddry was super as Holden’s supportive loving husband. Martin was really great as the guy who really wants to share his love but struggles to find the path.

Overall:  This film was fun, interesting, and a great start for Bell.

Wanderlust

First Hit:  There are some funny moments but overall this film falls flat.

There is little chemistry, or palpable chemistry, between George (played by Paul Rudd) and Linda (played Jennifer Aniston) in this oddly constructed film.

I found the film odd because each situation they were in was overdone. His brother, his wife and their son were characterizations of people – they weren’t real. The old hippy/or commune situation was a little far fetched as well.

The funniest moments is when George is getting ready to have sex with Eva (played by Malin Akerman) and he was practicing his conversation in front of a mirror. What was coming out of his mouth was embarrassingly funny, crude yet very humorous.

The storyline is that George works at a Wall Street financial company while Linda tries different things to find herself and to make money but she strikes out often. They buy a small studio ("No it's a mini loft”) apartment near his favorite coffee house.

Shortly after her latest attempt to sell a film concept to HBO fails and he loses his job, they have to sell the apartment they just bought for a loss. They decide to go visit his brother in Atlanta. On the way they spend a night at a commune that offers a different way of life.

This film is about their decision to try something new and to more fully find each other. Nevertheless despite the good idea, this films writing, direction and acting was sub-par.

Rudd was at his best in front of the mirror attempting to get his courage up to make love with another woman. Aniston didn’t seem to connect to or even belong in the film. It just wasn’t the right vehicle for her. Justin Theroux as Seth the community leader was certainly nothing to write home about and his see through philosophy had little grounding in anything. The only time there was some hint that he was connected to a larger universe was when he played guitar but then again any good guitarist could have play it that way. Joe Lo Truglio as Wayne spent most of his time naked, but was pretty good as this annoying person who was on his own track in the community. Alan Alda as Carvin the person who founded this commune back in 1971 was at times winkingly cute. David Wain and Ken Marino wrote this marginally adequate script but Wain wrecked the good parts with less than crisp direction.

Overall:  This film would barely make entertainment on a late Sunday afternoon on DVD or Netflix.