In many respects, Great World of Sound is the most conventional work in the series. We’ve seen the main character, his female companion, and his sidekick many times before, and we’ve seen a similar plot in many previous movies. Nothing new there. But Emerson said we have to read for the glimmers, and Craig Zobel’s film is saved from being a Thank You for Smoking knock–off by its “grace notes” – the oddly touching moments the two main characters share, and the nutty audition scenes, which seem too bizarre to have been scripted and acted. Only reality could be this weird.