Zobel has crafted a winner here - a promising debut film that heralds the arrival of a thrilling new talent.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 6, 2019

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 17, 2011

Craig Zobel's soul-crushing docudrama slums in the real rags-to-rags tragedy of the lowest rung of the music industry.

| Original Score: B- | Feb 22, 2008

Great World of Sound is a corrosive antidote to "American Idol."

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 9, 2008

The film's agenda becomes clear so early that the middle hour or so seems to be marking time until we get to the end.

Full Review | Jan 11, 2008

Zobel ultimately comes down on the side of the suckers, whose need to make music -- even bad music -- gives them an unimpeachable dignity

| Jan 11, 2008

A confident, sure-handed exercise focusing on the American Dream, turned nightmare.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 26, 2007

It's evident early on that this is a scam, though the extent of the movie's con is surprising.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 21, 2007

Displays all the trademarks of a true indie effort, especially in its refusal to sentimentalize either the characters or their situations.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 17, 2007

Everybody's got a song to sing, and we'll all believe exactly what we want for just as long as we can.

Full Review | Oct 17, 2007

Anyone who has enjoyed laughing at the bad singers auditioning on American Idol, consider the independent film Great World of Sound your penance.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 12, 2007

The pros and cons of the film are in direct proportion to the personalities of the two main characters, whose relationship is the story's anchor.

Full Review | Oct 12, 2007

Director Craig Zobel and co-writer George Smith imbue our two misfits with plenty of character depth and an intriguing camaraderie.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 11, 2007

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 6, 2007

The laughs flow.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 6, 2007

A quiet, clever and sometimes moving film about an unusual grifting lifestyle.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 5, 2007

Great World of Sound exposes the scams of so-called talent scouts who fleece gullible songwriters answering their misleading advertisements.

| Original Score: B | Oct 4, 2007

"Great World of Sound" is a sleeper independent film destined to become an underground classic.

| Original Score: A- | Sep 29, 2007

Funny, often cringe-inducing and, at heart, a real moral drama, Great World has a lot to say about the state of culture, commerce and self-delusion in our celebrity-craving society.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 28, 2007

...an involving, offbeat and truly unusual American independent film.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 28, 2007