Great World of Sound is a soulful and shattering tragicomedy about the drive to succeed, belong, and find a calling as an artist and as an individual in society. The two main characters, Martin (Pat Healy) and Clarence (Kene Holliday), are unwitting participants in a "song sharking" scam. In depressed Southern cities like Birmingham, they audition aspiring musicians, who are then required to make a down payment as part of their "record contract" with a company called the Great World of Sound. The film is not really about a hunger for American Idol-style fame, as the musicians are so poor and struggling that they would like any meager recognition for their artistry.
Director Craig Zobel used actual local musicians, and the scenes where they are auditioned and pitched by Martin and Clarence were mostly shot undercover with two-way mirrors. (The musicians were all briefed on the filming afterward.) This gives the central subject matter an authenticity and poignant humor, vividly creating the depressed and beaten-up Southeastern milieu of the characters. Martin and Clarence are participants in the scam while also being victims of larger societal constructs. Martin, a shy and rudderless young husband, is attracted to a job that seems to offer direction and meaning. Clarence, a gregarious but shunted poor black man, sees an opportunity to make money and move ahead. As the dry comedy of the first portion gives way to the disaster at its closing, Healy's and Holliday's performances vibrate powerfully with their characters' thwarted ambitions, reaching heart-rending levels when the realization of the moral comprises they've made begins to tear them apart. There is one major plot contrivance, in that it takes way too long for Martin and Clarence to figure out the scam, but the emotional arc is so convincing one may not notice. Great World of Sound was featured at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, the SXSW Film Festival, and the 36th New Directors/New Films showcase.