Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voice-over star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation.
Lake Bell's directorial debut stands out for its genuinely singular premise — the insular, male-dominated world of movie trailer voice-overs is a fresh comedic backdrop rarely explored on film. Bell also wrote and stars, giving the film a distinctive authorial voice and a feminist undercurrent that feels organic rather than preachy. The ensemble acting is warm and credible, though no performance is truly exceptional. The plot is competent but follows a fairly predictable underdog arc with family-dysfunction comedy beats. Cinematography is functional indie fare with little visual ambition. The ending resolves things satisfactorily without being especially surprising or resonant. Overall a charming, original small comedy elevated well above its premise by Bell's confident, idiosyncratic execution.