At long last, here's a serious film that seriously knows it's a comedy. It's unironically, unashamedly funny. It's reminiscent of classic comedies from days of old, when a certain shallowness was permitted in some areas provided that the film followed through on its premier promise to make you laugh. So let's think positive. Let's not complain that In a World...'s feminist streak is bold and blunt and thoroughly unsubtle. Let's not complain that the romantic subplots are trite and predictable and possibly out-of-place. Let's appreciate In a World... for what it is, not what it isn't. And it is a vivid, violent vomit of the bulging comic recesses of Lake Bell's mind. Strange how she treats her own self in her own film, directing as though it were not herself in the lead role. There's no vanity, and no equally vain absence of vanity; instead, there's a bracing frankness. Not neuroticism, more like self-obsession, but Bell is a self-obsessed philanthropist, and she distributes plum roles evenly throughout her gusty cast. It's actually quite a pleasure to watch the actors mine their caricatures for the full ambit of their comedic potential. Not long in, and In a World... reveals its true face: a study of womanhood, hardly particularly penetrating, but definitely sincere. Bell and Michaela Watkins' characters are immeasurably fascinating, though Bell's generosity as a writer deprives no one lead here of a full personality scope to explore. Her knack for comedy is best employed when the film strays off-piste and shows its more dramatic side - a dinner table discussion of a family member's suicide is brief but brilliant. And Bell is a sobering presence even as her script threatens to wallow in its sweetness, ensuring that you exit feeling invigorated rather than sickened.
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