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In 1973, R&B legend James Brown appears on “Soul Train,” and host Don Cornelius asks him for his advice to young people. Brown tells them to work on themselves. And then Cornelius introduces a 19-year-old who is embarking on a lifetime of working on the rest of the world. Like Brown, he has impressive hair and is completely at home in front of an audience. He has been preaching since age four, ordained at age nine. He is heading up a national organization of young activists. He presents James Brown with a framed, black-colored record. He explains that a gold record represents sales, but a black record represents Brown’s ability to express what the Black community needs to hear.

The teenager was the Reverend Al Sharpton . And in this small archival moment, we can see that Sharpton was already ambitious on his own behalf and on behalf of justice, a world-class networker (he became Brown’s tour manager), and a master communicator, combining the inspirational cadences of a preacher, the timing of a comic, and the ferocity of someone whose deepest belief is his often-repeated: “no justice: no peace.”

“Loudmouth” is a documentary about Sharpton as a public advocate, made up almost entirely of archival footage, with no new commentary except for an interview with Sharpton himself. It touches lightly on one of his most controversial cases, 15-year-old Tawana Brawley’s claims of horrific abuse, and we see her lawyer’s ill-advised claim in court that she would not appear to answer questions because no Black person could get justice in America. Sharpton’s only response today to the conclusion after a seven-month grand jury investigation that she had not told the truth about being assaulted is that if you think the jury in the O.J. Simpson case was wrong, you should be willing to question the jury in her case. He admits that he saw in her all the Black women like his mother who were not supported by men and therefore he had to support her.

The film does not cover his personal life or other controversies like the IRS claims of unpaid taxes or his switch from Pentecostal to Baptist. But in a reflective moment, he says that the hardships he has suffered make it possible for him to minister to others with authenticity. “I didn’t come to shame them or use them. I came to help them and help the cause.”

This is a movie that observes Sharpton; it does not try to explain him or measure his impact. Those who are not already aware of his history may find it superficial or confusing. The clearest sense we get of his journey is the contrast between the early footage with a more flamboyant appearance and his more subdued, elegant, slimmed-down look, with impeccable bespoke suits and understated ties. The archival footage does include some criticisms. One man says Sharpton is “in the civil rights business” instead of being a “civil rights leader.” Sharpton says he is fighting for the rights of Black people to enjoy what the world has to offer. Why shouldn’t he?

We get a sense of his celebrity in a huge gala 65 th birthday celebration that opens the film. He is greeted warmly by Robert De Niro , then-Governor Andrew Cuomo (son of the governor Sharpton pressured into appointing a special prosecutor), and Senator Chuck Schumer . Sharpton later mentions being on the dais at the Capitol building when Barak Obama was sworn in as President. But a more significant moment might be when he quietly tells teenage Darnella Frazier, who took the cell phone video of the death of George Floyd, that he will speak to her later to make sure she gets the support she needs and deserves. Yes, he says, he seeks publicity. But that is the most important tool he has to bring attention to the cases that are otherwise unseen, the ones whose stories can spur systemic change. Significantly, after he and other members of his group are arrested, it is the video footage of the arrest that gets them all released. And it is balanced by what he does off-camera, with private daily phone calls to the families of those he is advocating for.

Sharpton says he knows the difference between a moment (achieving justice in an individual case) and a movement (systemic change). His primary focus is on challenging the convenient narratives of those who benefit from the status quo, as important for his Black audiences as for whites. He tells Black audiences that they have the right and the ability to insist on change. And when he tells audiences of all races “no justice: no peace” it is not a threat. It is a reminder that the first is necessary for the second.

Now playing in select theaters and available on digital platforms on January 13th.

Nell Minow is the Contributing Editor at RogerEbert.com.

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‘Loudmouth’ Review: A Portrait of the Reverend Al Sharpton Captures His Activism, His Notoriety, and the Dance Between the Two

The film makes no apologies for Sharpton's decades of using the media to spotlight racial injustice.

By Owen Gleiberman

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'Loudmouth' Review: An Unapologetic Look at the Reverend Al Sharpton

For a long time, if you said the name “ the Reverend Al Sharpton ,” you were guaranteed to get a response that seemed to erupt from the very gut fauna of mass-media outrage. “ Loudmouth ,” the fascinating new documentary about Sharpton, makes a convincing case that most of that moral high dudgeon was fatally overblown. In the ’80s and ’90s, Sharpton was at the molten center of every race-based news event in the greater New York area. Some would say, quite reasonably, that this made him a devoted activist. (No one ever pilloried the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. for showing up too much .) At rallies, at protest marches, on the courthouse steps, Sharpton spoke with a prickly ferocity and power, giving voice to those who didn’t have it.

Was he a new version of King or Gandhi? Of course not. And he didn’t need to be. He was his own creation — the Civil Rights agitator in a track suit who bridged the activist idealism of the ’60s with something ruder, more brazen, and (in hindsight) completely necessary: the showboat tactics of the contemporary media age. With his pouffy hair and mustache and a gleam that was at once doe-eyed and reptilian, he looked like Prince’s doughy brother, and a lot of people — almost all of them white commentators — viewed him with deep suspicion. Early on in “Loudmouth,” we see a clip of Lesley Stahl, on “60 Minutes,” interviewing Sharpton for a segment and suggesting, with a smirk, that there’s a clear contradiction between his activism and the fact that he lives in “a fancy place.” You listen to that and think: Really? Is that a contradiction, or is it a white double standard?

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If you really think about it, though, what that unabashedly racist kid was saying — that it’s all the media’s fault! — is a crudely direct echo of the drumbeat of criticism that Al Sharpton endured for decades as an activist. The mantra was always the same. He was called a showman, a huckster, a one-man publicity machine, a sham crusader addicted to putting himself in the spotlight. There’s no point in denying that Sharpton, as he confronted cases of racial antagonism and racial murder, most of them in the outer boroughs of New York, did all he could to draw the media spotlight to those cases. With a bullhorn in hand, he was a natural-born speaker and, yes, a ham — a preacher-orator who liked to hear himself talk.

Yet just watch “Loudmouth” and listen to his words. The film includes a lot of footage of his earliest days, when he was the youth director for the 1972 Shirley Chisholm presidential campaign (he was all of 18), or when he worked for James Brown and Operation Breadbasket, or when he protested racial murder — notably by police officers — using the same hard, flat commanding rhetoric he used, decades later, to talk about George Floyd and Trayvon Martin. Sharpton sought the spotlight, but what he said was never a sham. His words brought heat and light. They were disciplined. They were focused on questioning the system. Which is why the system, in many ways, tried to write him off.

“Loudmouth,” directed by Josh Alexander, is a sprawling and searching and, in some ways, undisciplined movie. At a time in America when the spotlight has been newly focused on racial injustice, the film powerfully channels the racial tumult of the 1980s, giving you heaps of eye-opening news footage of the time. Cries of “No justice, no peace!” filled the air of the protests that Sharpton organized, yet getting the establishment to actually listen and respond was a daily uphill climb. Everything in the documentary that’s set in that earlier era feels riveting and essential.

But half the movie is set in the present day, with Alexander following Sharpton around in his current role as svelte éminence grise of the racial-justice movement. Around the time he was running for the senate seat in New York, Sharpton underwent a dramatic transformation, shedding 175 pounds and toning down his incendiary surface. He became a cable-news pundit, a national icon, an elder statesman of the movement. This is all essential to show, and Sharpton, seated in the two-story wood-paneled book-lined parlor of the Lotus Club, offers a fantastic deconstruction of how the media viewed him, and what the agendas driving that view were really about.

Yet the film, at two hours, still feels padded out with recent history. I would have liked, instead, to see some other dimension of Sharpton — who he is away from the protest marches. “Loudmouth” feels highly controlled, almost overly focused on Sharpton’s political identity at the expense of everything else. And there’s one place where the film makes a serious compromise, one that echoes the compromise that Sharpton himself has made.

In the ’80s and early ’90s, he brought crucial attention to cases of racial violence, and the accusations of demagoguery leveled against him, like the ones hurled by New York Mayor Ed Koch, were paranoid and unjustified. But Sharpton, after a mostly spotless track record, handed his critics a grenade to use against him when he got involved with the case of Tawana Brawley, the teenager in upstate New York who claimed that four men, including a police officer and a district attorney, had abducted and raped her. She was found in a trash bag, her hair smeared with feces, racial epithets scrawled across her belly. It looked like a hideous atrocity, and Sharpton treated it as one more incident in line with the Howard Beach murder and the Bernard Goetz subway shooting. But in this case, the facts were not there. This video report from The New York Times offers a definitive encapsulation of what really happened in the Tawana Brawley case. Simply put, she lied.

Sharpton claims, to this day, that Tawana Brawley deserved her day in court, and he’s right about that. Which is why he was right to sign on to the case. But once the realities began to come to light, he should have backed off. The Brawley case became a conspiracy theory, and the fact that Sharpton, interviewed in the present day, will not acknowledge that she lied — even though you can tell, from what he says, that he knows she did — amounts to a serious blemish on his legacy. He claims to stand for truth and justice. And he does. He should have been big enough to acknowledge his one defining mistake. If he had, it wouldn’t define him as much.

Yet one blemish doesn’t blot out the moral urgency of what Al Sharpton stands for. He took risks and paid a price, at one point getting stabbed in the chest with a kitchen knife by one of those Bensonhurst residents. In “Loudmouth,” Sharpton offers the best defense of his tactics in his eulogy for George Floyd. From a Minneapolis church podium, he declares, “Critics would say that all Al Sharpton wants is publicity. Well, that’s exactly what I want. ‘Cause nobody calls me to keep a secret. People call me to blow up issues that nobody else would deal with. I’m the blow-up man, and I don’t apologize for that.” But then he adds, with a rhetorical power that builds, “George Floyd’s story has been the story of Black folks. Because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed of being is that you kept your knee on our neck.” Al Sharpton spent decades working to lift that knee off. If that isn’t heroism, I don’t know what is.

Reviewed online (Tribeca Film Festival), June 22, 2020. Running time: 123 MIN.

Production: A Bron Studios release of a Salmira Productions production, in association with Creative Wealth Media, Olive Hill Media, Hot Docs Partners, XRM. Producers: Josh Alexander, Daniel J. Chalfen, Mike Jackson, Kedar Massenburg. Executive producers: John Legend, Ty Stiklorius, Austyn Biggers, Salman Al-Rashid, Sam Frohman, Aaron L. Gilbert, Brenda Gilbert, Josh Miller, Jason Cloth, Michael Cho, Tim Lee, Jim Butterworth, Brenda Robinson.
Crew: Director, screenplay: Josh Alexander. Camera: Clemson Brown, Graham Willoughby. Editor: Armando Croda. Music: Joel Goodman, Jessie Montgomery.
With: The Reverend Al Sharpton.

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Loudmouth Reviews

Loudmouth turns the screen into a time machine allowing the audience to travel back to NYC in the late 80s early 90s and experience the shocking similarities to what we are experiencing in the 21st century.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 4, 2023

Fascinating as it is to see the sheer drive and determination of a man who builds his persona with unwavering dedication, Loudmouth can appear somewhat hagiographical in its approach.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 20, 2022

It didn't delve deeply enough, unfortunately.

Full Review | Dec 13, 2022

Shows the intriguing contrast between the Sharpton of the '80s and '90s and the man of today, also showing that the previous Al was much more interesting.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 13, 2022

While it's absolutely true that the dominant media has a double standard for Black activists it wouldn't apply to white do-gooders there's a lot here that goes unchallenged.

Full Review | Original Score: 85/100 | Dec 10, 2022

It respectfully honours the subject at its core by putting the issue before the man with the megaphone.

Full Review | Dec 9, 2022

An effectively straightforward recap of his career, this documentary doesn’t offer much meaningful insight beyond the highlights.

Slickly-edited, but overlong, hagiographic, underwhelming and incomplete. It's not a warts-and-all documentary biopic.

It’s as sobering a prism as any through which to view a troublemaker’s life, what hasn’t changed, and what count as incremental victories.

<i>Loudmouth</i> is a profile of a man who knows that if someone is going to put the microphone in your face, you better have something important to say.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Dec 8, 2022

As straightforward as it appears, “Loudmouth” also invites an engaged but necessarily judicious scrutiny.

Full Review | Dec 8, 2022

There is little in the film that offers insight into what makes him tick as a person.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Dec 6, 2022

The film makes no apologies for Sharpton's decades of using the media to spotlight racial injustice.

Full Review | Jun 24, 2022

A sense of admiration and responsibility courses through the doc, an orientation that eventually curdles the narrative.

Full Review | Jun 20, 2022

Chronicles his evolution, although it leaves most of the pushback against Rev. Sharpton to archival footage rather than challenging the legend head-on.

Review: Al Sharpton documentary ‘Loudmouth’ is a profile in one voice — his

The Rev. Al Sharpton in the biographical documentary "Loudmouth."

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If anyone understands the power of media oxygen to stoke the fires of social justice — and, no less essentially, show where racism blazed freely — it’s the Rev. Al Sharpton. And because there’s always something to point out and shout about regarding institutional racism in America, the civil rights activist and MSNBC host with the unflappable demeanor has never been at a loss for words when in front of a lens and microphone.

“Loudmouth” is the wryly admiring title director Josh Alexander has given his documentary about Sharpton . And yet the thin man in the sharp gray three-piece sitting down for Alexander’s camera at the beginning looks more serene grandfather than warrior battle-hardened from the front lines of racial inequality, from his days as a youth director in the late ‘60s under the Rev. Jesse Jackson to eulogizing George Floyd at his funeral .

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Of course, the bountiful archival footage “Loudmouth” has to draw from — speeches, marches, protests, arrests, news footage, talk show appearances — reminds us of the story we know, that in the ‘80s and ‘90s the Brooklyn-born and -raised Baptist minister with the recognizably James Brown-ian perm was as prominent a figure in the push against racial injustice as anyone. He refers to himself as “Blowup man” early on, because he’s never denied the volume-raising, spotlight-hogging aspect of his job.

The way he puts it, the story of the lion and hunter is that “the hunter writes the story,” which makes Sharpton the one trying to shift the narrative when Black people are deemed unworthy of fair treatment in a system that prefers they be unseen and disposable. He established those rabble-rousing bonafides in Howard Beach in Queens in 1986 after 23-year-old Michael Griffith died because of a racially targeted attack by white youths. Sharpton kept up the pressure for a special prosecutor, and savvily planned marches through the area’s all-white neighborhoods that, when covered by the news, showed how virulently racist many residents were. At his most effective, Sharpton knew how to make the hunters the story.

As for the reverend being the story of his own biodoc, however, “Loudmouth” — even at two hours — isn’t too keen on filling in the details or shadings that provide a deeper portrait. There are no interviewees besides Sharpton, and while he’s up for defending his part in the reputationally bruising Tawana Brawley rape allegations case (he says the goal was only ever getting her day in court) and acknowledging that his rhetorical excesses needed some rehabilitating (thanks to advice from Coretta Scott King), what we’re left with is a long, fascinating life with curious personal and professional gaps. When Sharpton reads off a list of the many names and families he’s advocated for, the intent may be noting all the cases and tragedies and fights away from the media, proving he wasn’t all showboat. But not hearing from cohorts or anybody he helped — for once, it all really is about him — feels like a missing piece that could have given dimension to a portrait a little too comfortable with deference.

“Loudmouth” is better when it operates along parallel histories of strife and battle: galling incidents that expose America’s racial fault lines, and how Sharpton’s activism affected those spaces. At the very least, the documentary makes it clear that showing up and saying something is better than doing nothing, that sometimes the only tone to take when access to the megaphone isn’t a given is fever pitch.

It’s as sobering a prism as any through which to view a troublemaker’s life, what hasn’t changed, and what count as incremental victories. A year after Floyd’s funeral, Sharpton returned to the family to lead a prayer after Derek Chauvin’s murder conviction, and for once, he didn’t have to lead with bluster or fury — the lion from his metaphor allowing its roar to evoke eloquently measured hope, even if the hunted’s story was far from over.

'Loudmouth'

Not rated Running time: 2 hours, 3 minutes Playing: Laemmle Noho 7, North Hollywood; Cinemark Baldwin Hills Crenshaw; Regal Edwards West Covina; Regal Edwards Corona Crossing

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‘Loudmouth’: Rev. Al Sharpton reflects on a career as a ‘blowup man’

The Baptist minister, civil rights activist and talk show host has made it his life’s work to call attention to racism and racially motivated violence

The documentary “Loudmouth” opens with a stark contrast: a shot of the Rev. Al Sharpton as he walks toward the chair in which he’ll sit for the course of the roughly two-hour movie as he reflects on his career as a civil rights activist. Dressed in a dapper gray three-piece suit, with his salt-and-pepper hair slicked neatly back, Sharpton, who turned 68 in October, cuts a very different figure from the early 1980s footage of him that director Josh Alexander intersperses amid the interview segments that form the spine of the film — and not just because the Brooklyn-born Baptist minister and MSNBC host has famously lost so much weight. (Sharpton reportedly went from over 300 pounds to around 130.)

He possesses a quiet gravitas, speaking in measured cadence that is sharply different from the older footage. The disparity is intentional: Alexander includes clips of commentators referring to the film’s subject — often shown in a track suit and James Brown-like pompadour, shouting into a microphone — as an “agitator,” “troublemaker,” “rabble-rouser” and other terms that fly in the face of the person we see before us.

The cheekily titled “Loudmouth” has been marketed as a look back at Sharpton’s life and career, but the film’s emphasis is mainly on the latter, presenting almost 40-year-old footage of Sharpton advocating for justice in the wake of such incidents as the 1986 death of Michael Griffith, a Black man who was fatally struck by a car after being chased by a White mob onto a highway in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens. Those episodes are shown along with more recent footage from protests in the wake of such police killings as that of George Floyd in 2020.

Speaking at Floyd’s funeral, Sharpton refers to himself as a lifelong “blowup man” — someone who steps in to bring attention to injustice by, in a word, shouting. “I don’t apologize for that,” he adds. But there is little in the film that offers insight into what makes him tick as a person.

Sharpton himself would probably admit that “tick” is the wrong word for the sound he makes. In his effort to spotlight racism and racially motivated violence, the subject of “Loudmouth” rails, showboats, declaims and blusters. In the end, though, has he made a difference? Sadly, as “Loudmouth” makes all too apparent, little has changed over four decades, except perhaps that Sharpton is these days a bit more modest in his self-appraisal.

As the interview winds down, Sharpton calls himself, with an uncharacteristic mix of self-effacement and understatement, “some fat guy from Brooklyn who lost the weight and got some stuff done.”

Unrated. At area theaters. Contains some mature thematic material. 123 minutes.

‘Loudmouth’ Review: Rev. Al Sharpton Doc Wavers Between Inspirational and Meek

The controversial activist speaks for himself as this documentary’s only interviewee, leaving much under-discussed and uncriticized

This review originally ran June 19, 2022, in conjunction with the film’s world premiere at the Tribeca Festival.

Introducing “Loudmouth” at the Tribeca Festival, Robert De Niro referred to the film’s subject, lifelong racial justice activist Rev. Al Sharpton, as “so soft-spoken and so reasonable.” The audience at the closing-night screening, many of them the Rev’s personal guests, laughed.

But De Niro, a friend of Rev. Sharpton, seemed to mean the sentiment genuinely, showing the severe divide between the Rev. Sharpton of the 1980s, an unapologetic practitioner of civil disobedience who was staunchly critical of whites as a class, and today’s Rev. Sharpton, an old-school liberal who has his own show on MSNBC.

“Loudmouth,” directed by Josh Alexander (“Prescription Thugs”), chronicles that evolution, although it leaves most of the pushback against Rev. Sharpton to archival footage rather than challenging the legend head-on.

The documentary focuses on two 1980s legal cases that Rev. Sharpton worked on as an advocate, with flashes forward to his career from 2019 to 2021. Per the doc, Rev. Sharpton rose to prominence — and media infamy — in 1986, following the killing of Michael Griffith in Howard Beach, Queens. As Sharpton puts it, he’s “barely been home to change clothes since.” The only interview subject is Rev. Sharpton himself, lit exquisitely in a sprawling, mahogany library. Any other voices come from archival footage, much of it from ’80s talk shows. As a result, the film is mostly a celebration of the reverend’s work.

That’s not to say that “Loudmouth” doesn’t raise any eyebrows at the flashy reverend whatsoever. There are a few references to his wealth, including one poignant cut from him deriding May 2020 looters, saying that “activists go for causes and justice, not designer shoes,” to a close-up of him in the present day, being chauffeured in the back of a car. The shot begins on his immaculately pressed pocket square. De Niro makes an appearance in the doc as well as a guest at a lavish birthday bash for the Rev, alongside Senator Chuck Schumer and Andrew Cuomo. (“I raised you well,” Rev. Sharpton tells Cuomo in greeting.)

Rev. Sharpton also has plenty of critics in the archival footage, much of which documents broadcast media footage and what Sharpton calls “racy” talk shows of the time, like “Donahue.” In the talk-show setting, white people endlessly scorn Rev. Sharpton. There are frequent references to “you people” and the consistently reductive argument that, by being a Black rights activist, he and his allies are “making everything about race.” Some of their sentiments are familiar, though most of them seem laughable today. (Literally — there was much scoffing from the audience.)

The filmmakers choose to focus on that erstwhile controversy, while offering few other dissenting, or even more neutral, voices. This is most apparent as the film chronicles Rev. Sharpton’s work on the Tawana Brawley case of 1988. Those unfamiliar with that case are likely to come away on Sharpton’s side, though it was an incredibly complicated, controversial story. Brawley, a Black 15-year-old in a Poughkeepsie suburb, was found in a trash bag, covered in feces and epithets, and claimed a group of white men (including a police officer and a powerful attorney) had held her captive and raped her for four days.

Rev. Sharpton took up the case, insisting before it even went to trial that this represented another instance of a young Black woman failing to get justice against her white rapists. Of course, many were also prone to discredit and insult Brawley before they knew of any evidence, either. But after hearing exhaustive evidence — not including accounts from Brawley herself or Brawley’s mother, who both refused to testify — a grand jury concluded Brawley had not been truthful.

The “exhaustive evidence” part does not make its way into this documentary; instead, we’re left with Rev. Sharpton’s present-day insistence that Brawley did not get her proper day in court. He likens disbelieving those findings to disbelieving the jury that found that O.J. Simpson did not murder his wife.

george-and-tammy-jessica-chastain-michael-shannon

The filmmakers do include several questions to Rev. Sharpton about his unflagging belief in Brawley, as well as two segments of archival footage (one from an NYU law scholar and one from a leader of the NAACP) claiming that this activism may actually have made it more difficult for Black women to come forward in the future. But since the film is scant in its details about the Brawley case, unfamiliar viewers must turn to other sources after their screenings to get the full picture.

Despite its teasing name, the pushback this film offers against Rev. Sharpton makes him look more heroic than complex. By today’s standards, the Rev. Sharpton of the 1980s was simply a radical for whom the world was not yet ready. If you want to know why the Rev was so controversial in his 30s, you won’t get much of an answer beyond, “He was a little edgy, and people were a lot more racist.” That may well be true, but Alexander sells himself short by failing to engage more deeply with Rev. Sharpton’s good-faith critics.

This is still a very worthwhile film. It offers a portrait of one of the most prominent civil-rights leaders in America and sheds light on the injustices of our not-so-distant past. These days it can often feel like justice for Black people is moving backwards, but “Loudmouth” is overall hopeful, chronicling the progress from Rev. Sharpton’s rise to now. It’s a powerful, well-assembled watch, but curious viewers may feel prompted to seek out more details than this film is willing to offer.

“Loudmouth” opens in US theaters Dec. 9 via Greenwich Entertainment.

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‘Loudmouth’ Review: Rev. Al Sharpton Doc Wavers Between Inspirational and Meek

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This review originally ran June 19, 2022, in conjunction with the film’s world premiere at the Tribeca Festival.

Introducing “Loudmouth” at the Tribeca Festival, Robert De Niro referred to the film’s subject, lifelong racial justice activist Rev. Al Sharpton , as “so soft-spoken and so reasonable.” The audience at the closing-night screening, many of them the Rev’s personal guests, laughed.

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“Loudmouth” opens in US theaters Dec. 9 via Greenwich Entertainment.

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Where to Watch

Al Sharpton (Self) Andrew Cuomo (Self - Governor, New York) Chuck Schumer (Self - Senator, New York) Phil Griffin (Self - MSNBC President) Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (Self - U.S. Congressman) Jesse Jackson (Self - Civil Rights Activist) Bob Law (Self - WLIB Radio Personality) C. Vernon Mason (Self - Civil Rights Lawyer) Alton Maddox (Self - Civil Rights Lawyer) Ed Koch (Self - Mayor of New York City)

Josh Alexander

It tells the story of Rev. Al Sharpton, painting an intimate portrait of a tireless warrior who has never ducked a fight in his mission to transform the status quo.

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Directed by Josh Alexander

The life and battles of Reverend Al Sharpton

Josh Alexander’s Loudmouth documents the winding road that is Al Sharpton’s life story as an iconic activist and spiritual leader.

Reverend Al Sharpton Jesse Jackson Barack Obama Chuck Schumer

Director Director

Josh Alexander

Producers Producers

Daniel J. Chalfen Mike Jackson

Writer Writer

Executive producer exec. producer.

John Legend

Camera Operator Camera Operator

Christina Wairegi

Bron Studios Salmira Productions Get Lifted Film Co. Group Effort Films Massenburg Media Naked Edge Films Olive Hill Media Hot Docs Partners XRM Media

Documentary

Releases by Date

18 jun 2022.

Theatrical limited

09 Dec 2022

13 jan 2023, 25 feb 2023, 18 jun 2023, releases by country, puerto rico.

Digital BET+
TV BET / BET Her / VH1
TV R Showtime
Premiere Tribeca Film Festival

120 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by 😿Andrew Chrzanowski😿 ★★★

☆ "Every Black person born in America is born into 'it's all about race.'" ☆

My dad is the kind of guy who hates Al Sharpton "because all he talks about is race."

Uh, yeah, he's a civil rights leader. It would be like me complaining about a priest for only talking about religion.

And I love that Josh Alexander's documentary began with that exact topic, with a brief compilation of people complaining about Rev. Sharpton for focusing so much on racism and discrimination. This largely archival-based film – complemented with a new interview and some footage from 2019 to 2021 including the 2020 racial protests – is a fine recap of his long and tireless career fighting for underrepresented groups and…

Review by Finn Kane ★★★★

Really good overall. I appreciate how Sharpton let’s the broader narrative of civil rights in the U.S. be prioritized over himself, and the use of historical footage was powerful.

2022 Ranked

Review by Brendan Banks ★★★★

Very well done doc. Lots of great choices here - Sharpton tells his own story, in his own words; cross cutting contemporary footage with archival, showing persistent themes; and deciding sometimes leaving a shot uncut hits harder than an assault of material. Whoever pulled archival found some amazing gems.

Review by vinny ★★★

Philadelphia Film Festival screening featuring a Q&A with the director and Rev. Al Sharpton afterward.

Interesting doc focused on the media coverage of Al Sharpton throughout his career. Not sure making the Brawley case the centerpiece of the doc really worked, but pretty solid otherwise.

Review by maddie b ★★★★★

A must watch.

Review by Narwhale ★★★½

Everyone else:Wow, this is a powerful story on the life and achievements of a major civil rights icon

My brain:Wait, Al Sharpton was fat?

Review by finnkane2 ★★★★

My name is deez

Review by Brent_Marchant ★★½

Rev. Al Sharpton is one of those figures who people either love or hate. Some say he’s a passionate advocate for civil rights, while others contend that he’s a self-promoting opportunist who’s “in the civil rights business.” Regardless of what one thinks, though, there’s general consensus that he’s an undeniably outspoken force, one whose candid character and personality live up to every bit of this documentary’s title. Director Josh Alexander’s profile of this often-polarizing presence seeks to present a definitive look at Sharpton’s life and work, but, unfortunately, it misses the mark in several respects. To begin with, the material is poorly organized, jumping around without a well-defined sense of direction and weighed down by an excess of narrative minutiae…

Review by Ben Travers ★★★★

”Loudmouth” is an incisive, striking documentary that’s less about Al Sharpton & more about grasping the history & purpose of his work. A refreshingly focused film that skirts celebrity testimonials in favor of reframing the past to make change in the present.

Review by Kaela Buggy ★★★★

This documentary really covered a lot. The parallels of civil rights organizing in the 80’s to the fight for justice in the past couple of years was especially interesting. Thought this was great!

Review by trublu215 ★★★

It uncovers nothing new about Al Sharpton that a simple Wikipedia page couldn’t tell you but it does so with grace. It’s well made and watchable but never riveting which is this doc’s fatal flaw.

Review by Overly Honest Reviews ★★★

Genre: Documentary Year Released: 2022 Runtime: 2h 3m Director(s): Josh Alexander Featuring: Reverend Al Sharpton, President Barack Obama, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Senator Chuck Schumer, James Brown Where To Watch: In select theaters December 9, 2022, on digital January 13, 2023

RAVING REVIEW: If you’re familiar with Rev. Al Sharpton, this won’t help with a deep dive into the influential figure. If you’re not, or only know of, his name, this will give you a solid foundation that will likely lead you to want to go out and learn more about him.

Sharpton is widely known as anything other than a figure who will “go silently into the night.” He fights hard for his beliefs and the freedoms of many others…

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Review: ‘Loudmouth’ Reflects the Distinction Between Creating News and Making History

Jeanine is a Writer, Actor, member SAG/AFTRA, AEA, Podcast host,…

Loudmouth is an engaging documentary about Rev. Al Sharpton’s life and challenges as a social justice activist. The film is directed and written by Josh Alexander ( United Skates , HBO Docs), who nimbly reflects the similarities of the fight for social justice in New York City from the 1980s and ’90s to 2020.

On December 20, 1986, in Howard Beach, Queens , Michael Griffith was murdered by a group of white youths who beat Griffith and his friends in front of a pizza parlor and then chased Griffith into traffic. The three Black boys’ car had broken down, and they had walked three miles to use the phone at the pizza parlor. Despite the venomous hatred by predominantly white community members, Rev. Sharpton brought attention to this horrible tragedy by leading protest marches in Howard Beach, seeking justice for Griffith’s death.

Josh Alexander does a fantastic job painting the atmosphere of the time. In the press notes for the documentary, Alexander shares, “As a white Jewish male growing up in the Bay Area in the ’80s and ’90s, I was socialized by the news and talk shows I watched. And much of what I consumed was slanted through a lens of complicit bias that is breathtaking to reconsider in hindsight.”

The editing in Loudmouth is incredible. The archival footage is so familiar, it’s heartbreaking. It shows that even though we’ve come a long way when it comes to racism in America, we have a long way to go. As I watched the Howard Beach footage of crowds of white New Yorkers heckling the marchers, repeatedly shouting the N-word, I couldn’t help but think these folks are probably the white supremacists we are seeing today.

Loudmouth turns the screen into a time machine allowing the audience to travel back to NYC in the late ’80s/early ’90s and experience the shocking similarities to what we are experiencing in the 21st century. Alexander nimbly weaves footage from news reports, talk shows, with a current day conversation with Rev. Sharpton as his life story unfolds.

The film begins with a quote by Haitian-American anthropologist Michel-Rolph Trouillot : “History means both the facts of the matter and a narrative of those facts, both ‘what happened’ and ‘that which is said to have happened.’” Rev. Sharpton has dedicated his life to taking back the narrative and telling the story from the perspective of Black people in America. His simple ask, as stated when he gave George Floyd’s eulogy: “Get your knee off our neck.”

Loudmouth was a reminder of how blatant white people were with their racism in the media back then. Talk shows like Morton Downey Jr. , Donahue , and The Richard Bey Show were showcases for sensationalism and conflict that audiences gobbled up relentlessly. Watching those shows probably gave viewers the same feeling that audiences felt watching gladiators rip each other to pieces in the Roman Colosseum.

In this atmosphere, Sharpton was a master of language, large and in charge. He was the king of comebacks, infuriating to the white male hosts and guests who tried to diminish his brilliance. Sharpton and his colleagues were masters of media, using these platforms to amplify the stories of Black people who were being killed, not in the Jim Crow South, but right in the supposed heart of liberalism, New York City.

Sharpton’s organizing protests around Howard Beach made him a national figure but the documentary reflects how he had been advocating for equity for Black folks as an activist since he was nineteen years old. There’s lovely footage of James Brown and Don Cornelius with a nineteen-year-old Sharpton on Soul Train in 1974 that reflects that the intersection between the entertainment industry, activism, and the Black church has always been vital to the Civil Rights movement in America. The documentary does a fantastic job deconstructing how the white male dominant media crafted the news to slant the narrative to support and protect the system rather than telling the story from a neutral perspective.

Where would we be without people who were brave enough to speak up? Loudmouth shows how hard it is to be a social justice activist and advocate for others especially when the story is not black and white. As I was watching the film, I wondered if they would address the Tawana Brawley situation. Brawley, a Black female teenager, accused four white men of abducting and raping her. Rev. Sharpton advocated for a special prosecutor, even being arrested in protest to protect Brawley’s rights. A grand jury decided it was a hoax. This part of Loudmouth is particularly excellent. Nuance is the beauty of the best documentary films. Alexander does an excellent job painting the background of the story and places the audience right there in the middle of the conflict. In the documentary, Rev. Sharpton speaks on this situation with reflection and nuance that gives perspective. It’s so easy for the media, especially at that time, to demonize Black women and Sharpton refuses to do that.

Loudmouth honors the memories of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery and lists over 25 years of young Black people whose lives were taken too soon by hate. As Rev. Sharpton reflects on how his life has unfolded in Loudmouth, he comments that he’s been planting seeds and that he won’t see the result of his labor in his lifetime. But Sharpton’s calling is to be the person who speaks up against injustice when so many of us feel like we can’t.

Sharpton’s words have done harm in the past, yet he owns up to his mistakes while showing the complexity of being one of the people who disrupts white supremacy, police violence, and injustice. Activism is not a place to be shy. Disruption requires people to be unapologetic in their ability to speak up and tell our stories as we advocate for justice and peace. Loudmouth is the perfect documentary to see as the country goes into this next election cycle — it shows the powerful impact of action.

Loudmouth is in theaters December 9, 2022, and streams on Prime Video and Apple TV January 13, 2023.

What's Your Reaction?

Jeanine is a Writer, Actor, member SAG/AFTRA, AEA, Podcast host, Producer, CEO VisAbleBlackWoman Productions, Certified Health Coach and Conscious Dance facilitator. Jeanine's mission, centering Black women's stories to preserve our legacies.

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World Premiere

New york, documentary, politics, biography, journalism.

Josh Alexander ’s Loudmouth documents the winding road that is Al Sharpton’s life story as an iconic activist and spiritual leader. Viewers peek under the fold and witness the unrestricted details of Sharpton’s development from an 8-year-old preacher to a (sometimes painted as controversial) civil rights figure. Along with his history in the public eye, the good and the bad, the film offers behind the scenes insight into Sharpton’s experience as a presidential candidate advisor and racial justice advocate during the volatile climate of 2020.

Audiences will be drawn in by Sharpton’s depth of knowledge and unpublicized details about police brutality in the United States, in particular, New York. Scenes with Andrew Cuomo and other influential figures highlight what makes Sharpton so special as a storyteller and agitator. Viewers are introduced to a new side of the activist and politician, who many have mixed feelings about. Loudmouth makes one thing clear – there’s no one like him. — Shakira Refos

After the Premiere Screening : A conversation with Rev. Al Sharpton, Spike Lee, & John Legend moderated by Cori Murray.

Cast & Credits

Josh alexander.

Josh Alexander 's recent films include writing Oscilloscope's Jay Myself , writing and producing Cinema Guild's I'm Leaving Now and executive producing HBO Documentary Films' United Skates . Previous credits include writing CNN Films' The Reagan Show , writing and co-directing Samuel Goldwyn Films' Prescription Thugs , and writing/producing HBO Documentary Films ' Southern Rites .

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Loudmouth Review: Straight from the Reverend’s Mouth

A study in the power of words

Loudmouth (USA, 123 min.) Dir. Josh Alexander

Reverend Al Sharpton is a loudmouth. That statement means no disrespect to the minister and civil right activist. Rather, it’s an observation of fact and necessity.

Josh Alexander’s appropriately titled documentary Loudmouth charts Sharpton’s journey as a voice for the people. The film scores a bittersweet coup by being alongside Sharpton during the tumultuous events of 2020. Moreover, Sharpton’s activism in the wake of George Floyd’s senseless murder directly reflects the USA’s inability to learn from its past. Events repeat themselves throughout Loudmouth as crimes from the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s echo tragedies of today.

The film features a direct address interview with Sharpton as its backbone. The good reverend knows how to speak to a camera and he commands attention and authority. The interviews feature choice quotes, like when he displays his knack for flipping the argument and recalls asking a white man who thought O.J. Simpson was guilty why a Black caucus couldn’t dispute the verdict of a white man who was acquitted for assaulting a Black woman.

Loudmouth smartly uses an extensive archival catalogue to deepen Sharpton’s commentary. As he speaks about hard fought civil rights campaigns, images illustrate the negative media spin that frequently limits Black representation to violent news stories.

However, Alexander quickly and abruptly inserts contemporary material. For example, a significant chapter sees Sharpton’s interview reflect upon the violent 1986 murder of Michael Griffith, who was killed when a car in which he was travelling with friends broke down in a “white” neighbourhood. The archival footage offers images of the campaign in which Sharpton and others drew attention to violence against Black lives. The frame then cuts to black and offers the disturbing audio clips reporting Floyd’s murder. Without a prompt, Loudmouth chillingly blurs past and present.

Getting Loud and Louder

Loudmouth charts dual narratives as it brings Sharpton’s story to where it is today. On one hand, Alexander examines the reverend’s outspokenness. An earlier montage of media clips illustrate the questions with which Sharpton has had to contend throughout his career. Queries about verboseness and Blackness carry racist tones. Peers in the media imply that Sharpton and company should just duck their heads and refrain from making much noise. Similarly, clips highlight Sharpton’s appearances on trash TV of the ’80s and ’90s that sensationally confronted race. Sharpton shares how these shows gave racist white folks platforms to vent their fragility. However, faced with so many loudmouths, they offered a platform to reply, loudly and assertively, when few outlets afforded space to issues of race.

The film charts an awakening of sorts as Sharpton learns the gift of speaking loudly. He recalls a reprimand from Coretta Scott King that offered a wake-up call to the power of words. Alexander weaves Sharpton’s reflections with inserts in which his speeches become more politicized. Call-outs become calls for action. He embraces his role as figure whose knack for public speaking draws attention to urgent issues. Controversy works.

Cycles of Violence

The other thread of Loudmouth smartly situates Sharpton’s role as an American leader within the Black Lives Matter movement. The parallels between the murder of Griffith and Floyd, as well as other Black Americans like Breonna Taylor and Phillip Pannell, are clear. But the film also goes back to the marches of the civil rights movement in the 1960s as Sharpton, in archives, makes the case that New York is just the Alabama of 1980. Sharpton captures the problem in an archival interview when asked if New York’s in for a hot summer. He replies that the question assumes that an oven is only hot when the food nears the flames. Rather, he sees the city and the country as a sweatbox that’s been roasting to a broil. Loudmouth unpacks the pervasive system violence in America that somehow creeps further out of the shadows as years go by while the root of the problems go largely unaddressed.

As the film ultimately transcends biographical doc convention, Loudmouth uses Sharpton’s presence of offer one of the fuller assessments of the racial reckoning of 2020. In some ways covering similarly terrain as Who We Are , but with slicker framing, it respectfully honours the subject at its core by putting the issue before the man with the megaphone. Before iPhones and Twitter, though, Sharpton’s speeches and media hits were among rare articulations of a deeply rooted problem. Loudmouth doesn’t pretend that the problem is solved. Rather, it makes clear that the oven is at hot as ever.

Loudmouth opens in U.S. theatres Dec. 9 and hits Prime Video and Apple TV on Jan. 13.

Al Sharpton
Black Lives Matter
Black Stories
Josh Alexander
systemic racism

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The name Rev. Al Sharpton elicits strong responses. In fact, the opening clips of writer-director Josh Alexander’s documentary Loudmouth contain a 1993 60 Minutes interview with Mike Wallace in which Wallace rattles off a laundry list of (mostly white) critics of Sharpton, including: “impresario of hatred, demagogue, hate-monger, and racist clown.” Sharpton stares stone-faced, taking the verbal slings and arrows without batting an eye. He points out that those scurrilous barbs are taken from the same playbook used on Dr. Martin Luther King just decades earlier. King’s widow once introduced Sharpton, stating his work was “in the spirit and tradition” of her husband, and she joins a list of admirers that is equally as long as those who wish him ill.

Cobbled from years and years of archival footage, Loudmouth showcases Sharpton’s ability to be present at pivotal moments in history. Starting back in the 1970s, when Don Cornelius, of Soul Train fame, welcomed a 19-year-old Sharpton on stage to award James Brown a plaque for his voice in the black community. In the following decades, Sharpton grew to be an increasingly louder voice for those he felt were in need of representation. Being an ordained minister since the age of 9, Sharpton had finely honed his oratory prowess, which served him well as a public advocate.

From the 80s on, if there was a controversial case in which race was a factor, there was a good chance Sharpton could be found either on the sidelines or front and center. Through Sharpton, several cases in his home of New York were propelled to national prominence. From the assault of black men by whites in Howard Beach in 1986 to the Crown Heights Riots in 1991 to the police shooting of Amadou Diallo in 1999, Sharpton was able to catapult the stories into the national dialogue.

“… showcases Sharpton’s ability to be present at pivotal moments in history .”

Of course, he has notoriously hitched his name to more infamous cases as well, most notably that of Tawana Brawley, the 15-year-old girl who claimed she was raped and abused in a racially charged assault that included members of the New York Police Department. After a forensic test found no indication of rape or assault, a grand jury fined Sharpton and others for defamation.

There is certainly no shortage of archival footage of Sharpton’s many colorful comments throughout the years. One wishes that Loudmouth delved more into those orbiting Sharpton’s stratosphere during that time. Unfortunately, the elder statesman is the only one who is invited for any fresh commentary. While hearing about his life directly from the good Reverend is certainly engaging, his public work screams to be heard by those affected by him, both positively and negatively.

Fascinating as it is to see the sheer drive and determination of a man who builds his persona with unwavering dedication, Loudmouth can appear somewhat hagiographical in its approach. Sharpton is too fearless for such a style and has never shied away from confronting those who are angered by his words, for, as Dr. King once said, “In order to love your enemies, you must begin by analyzing self.”

Loudmouth (2022)

Directed and Written: Josh Alexander

Starring: Rev. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, etc.

Movie score: 6/10

"…hearing about his life directly from the good Reverend is certainly engaging..."

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Trivia In X-Men (2000) , Wolverine says of the team's suits, "You actually go outside in these things?" to which Cyclops responds, "What would you prefer? Yellow spandex?" The live-action Wolverine would not appear in his signature yellow costume until this movie, 24 years after the release of the first X-Men movie. Director Shawn Levy said, "Like the rest of the world, I've waited two decades to see Wolverine in a whole movie with Deadpool, and I don't know if this is our last shot at Wolverine on screen, so I was going to make goddamned sure we get the old yellow and blue just once, and that we get it right." Hugh Jackman said, "How did we never do this? It looked so right, it felt so right. I was like, 'That's him.'"

Deadpool : [to Wolverine] Don't just stand there, you ape. Give me a hand up.

[Wolverine draws his claws]

Deadpool : Nope, I'm actually okay, thank you very much!

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We're halfway through 2024. Here are the 10 best movies of the year (so far).

The sauciest tennis movie maybe ever. A queer bodybuilding revenge thriller. A very different Bible tale.

When it comes to the films of 2024, these are a few of our favorite things.

Last year was an amazing year for movies . This year, though, has been a little rough. People are freaking out over box-office receipts, and high-profile flicks – most recently, "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" and "The Garfield Movie" – aren't exactly raking in the cash; in fact, only five films in 2024 have cleared the $100 million bar domestically. And the movies themselves have been just OK on the whole. Usually, Hollywood backloads the really good stuff, and after " Madame Web ," "Argylle" and other rather middling fare, more quality is desperately needed.

Thankfully, there have also been some standouts. Here are 2024’s best movies so far, definitively ranked:

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10. 'The First Omen'

"The Omen" franchise receives a nice refresh with this prequel to the original 1976 movie. Nell Tiger Free stars as a young American novitiate at an Italian orphanage who becomes embroiled in a rogue Catholic Church conspiracy to birth the antichrist. There's plenty of nun horror and a jaw-droppingly gonzo finale, but feminist undertones and a timely take on religion bring depth and relevance to a demonically effective chiller.

Where to watch: Hulu , Disney+

9. 'The Book of Clarence'

Jeymes Samuel's thoughtful and subversive take on the biblical resurrection story stars LaKeith Stanfield as Clarence, a streetwise Jerusalem man in Jesus' time. Seeing the power and swagger Jesus has, Clarence proclaims himself "the new messiah," tries his hand at miracles and runs afoul of the Romans in a spiritually touching Everyman story anyone can relate to, whether you’re a believer or not.

Where to watch: Netflix

8. 'Late Night With the Devil'

David Dastmalchian makes everything he's in better, from the "Ant-Man" movies and "The Suicide Squad" to "Oppenheimer" and "The Boogeyman." He gets a hell of a lead role in this discomforting and mind-bending retro horror movie, starring as a 1970s late-night TV host who is tired of losing in the ratings to Johnny Carson and brings on a supposedly possessed girl in a Halloween gambit that spirals supernaturally out of control.

Where to watch: Shudder

7. 'Drive-Away Dolls'

Director Ethan Coen's goofball crime comedy is a playfully madcap turn on the “Thelma & Louise” model, with Geraldine Viswanathan and Margaret Qualley playing lesbian friends needing to get away from their everyday lives. Driving a rental car to Florida, they find something weird in the trunk and wind up on a campy, noir-spattered road trip. (Extra cool points for including a fun bit from cameo king Matt Damon.)

Where to watch: Peacock

6. 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga'

In the prequel to "Mad Max: Fury Road," Anya Taylor-Joy takes over Charlize Theron's title role as young Furiosa embarks upon an epic revenge quest that involves vehicular mayhem, explosive action sequences, rampant road rage and the weirdest villain Chris Hemsworth will probably ever play . It's no "Fury Road" but "Mad Max" mastermind George Miller again delivers a wild and worthy dystopian thrill ride through the Wasteland.

Where to watch: In theaters

5. 'Hit Man'

Glen Powell may be a rising star after "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Anyone But You," but the real talent scouts have been on board since his wise ballplayer in Richard Linklater's "Everybody Wants Some!!" They team again for an irresistible noir comedy and Powell's most wide-ranging role to date, a nerdy philosophy professor who moonlights as a fake assassin on cop crime stings and falls for a "client" (Adria Arjona) wanting to off her hubby.

Where to watch: In theaters now, on Netflix Friday

4. 'Challengers'

Just when you think sports movies are all the same, director Luca Guadagnino ("Call Me By Your Name") serves up an art-house topspin with his engaging, hot-blooded tennis melodrama . Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor star as young doubles partners and Zendaya is the teen singles sensation who creates an emotionally complicated love triangle that unfolds in fierce fashion on and off the court over several tumultuous years.

Where to watch: Apple TV , Fandango at Home , Amazon

3. 'Love Lies Bleeding'

Eyes lock between pumped-up Midwestern bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O'Brian) and introverted gym manager Lou (Kristen Stewart) and a love connection sparks. Then everything falls apart, and bodies start hitting the ground, in director Rose Glass' sultry, sweaty and sufficiently bizarre neo-noir thriller . Come for the bullets and barbells, stay for O'Brian's fantastic star-making turn, deftly capturing the troubled soul underneath Jackie’s muscles.

2. 'Civil War'

With his riveting cautionary tale , director Alex Garland takes our current political and cultural divide to a disturbing place and makes audiences confront what an actual modern civil war would look like. The thriller doubles as a journalism movie, too, with Kirsten Dunst turning in an outstanding performance as a world-weary photographer who takes a rookie (Cailee Spaeny) under her wing on the dangerous road to a scoop for the ages.

1. 'Dune: Part Two'

For a much-anticipated epic sci-fi movie, director Denis Villeneuve's 2021 "Dune: Part One" was aggressively average. (Heck, that David Lynch "Dune" was more enjoyable.) But all is forgiven now, Denis: "Part Two" is a sprawling, sandworm-filled triumph . Timothée Chalamet finally finds his way as the messianic Paul Atreides – plus digs into the thorny issues that come with being a savior figure – in a gripping, action-packed sequel exploring power, colonialism and religion.

Where to watch: Max

Home » Movies

Review: ‘Under Paris’ Is The Best Shark Movie Since ‘Jaws’

Under Paris Netflix Review - The Best Shark Movie Since Jaws

The problem shark movies have is they got it right the first time. Yes, I know there were shark movies before Jaws , but that 1975 Spielberg classic made sharks mainstream, and since then it has never been surpassed. Under Paris doesn’t quite escape the long triangular shadow of that movie either, but it has a better go than most wannabes in the last few decades.

The French Netflix film, directed by Xavier Gens ( Lupin ), has a brilliantly simple premise – there’s a shark in the Seine. It sounds like a joke-y idea, but it isn’t treated as such. This is no Sharknado , or even Deep Blue Sea . It’s the kind of shark movie that proceeds as if there were no shark movies before it, totally earnest in its delivery of toothy set-pieces and memorable images.

There’s a bit more meat on the bones than the premise suggests, but only as much as is necessary to give the characters something to bicker over. The antagonist is Lilith, a giant mako shark which has migrated from the saltier climes of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to the less toxic Seine, where it plans a stopover in the cozy catacombs thanks to having evolved the ability to reproduce via parthenogenesis.

So, there’s a bit of environmentalism here, a bit of science-fiction, and a touch of personal investment since our protagonist, scientist Sophia (Bérénice Bejo), lost her husband in the way one usually does when they swim with giant apex predators. But there’s mostly just a shark, and sometimes several sharks, in areas where there absolutely shouldn’t be sharks, and it yields some riotously entertaining results.

Oh, another thing. Paris is due to host a triathlon, the swimming portion of which will take place in the Seine. I said that Under Paris proceeds as if there have been no shark movies before it, but that was a bit of a fib – the mayor who refuses to postpone the event despite the obvious risks is very much a Shark Movie Mayor.

Anyway, this movie rules. It’s often gorgeous to look at thanks to Gens and DP Nicolas Massart, who construct some terrifyingly beautiful sequences that make fantastic use of color (the red flares!), claustrophobia (the catacombs!), and Oscar-nominated performers (Bejo!) to repeatedly deliver genuine thrills.

Bejo isn’t alone, but she’s playing one of the few characters who isn’t destined to become chum. The Save Our Seas Collective activist movement proves pleasantly disposable, as do most of the police divers, so there aren’t very many people to latch onto emotionally. This isn’t a criticism, though – it’s precisely what you expect from this kind of movie.

And that’s the point, I think. Under Paris is just impeccably well-constructed as a shark movie. It’s dopey but not stupid, outlandish but not silly, violent but not gratuitous, and serious but not so serious that it isn’t great fun. In 2024, it’d be less surprising to get a streaming shark movie entirely about the happy-clappy environmental movement and not, you know, the shark.

So, enjoy. It might not be Jaws , but it’s the closest thing we’ve had for ages.

Under Paris Ending Explained

Article by Jonathon Wilson

Jonathon is one of the co-founders of Ready Steady Cut and has been an instrumental part of the team since its inception in 2017. Jonathon has remained involved in all aspects of the site’s operation, mainly dedicated to its content output, remaining one of its primary Entertainment writers while also functioning as our dedicated Commissioning Editor, publishing over 6,500 articles.

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Critic’s Pick

‘I Used to Be Funny’ Review: Bruising Punchlines

The film, which stars Rachel Sennott as a stand-up comedian, looks at the aftereffects of trauma on a character who wields quips as both weapon and shield.

Share full article

A woman lies in bed with a look of despair.

By Amy Nicholson

The perceptive dramedy “I Used to Be Funny” features a mic-drop performance by Rachel Sennott as a rising stand-up comedian derailed by a vague, internet-viral crime. What happened to Sam (Sennott) is no laughing matter. But she and her fellow comics crack oblique jokes about it, anyway. Making her first feature, the writer-director Ally Pankiw lets most zingers land. Comedy is just how these strivers communicate — it’s how they break awkwardness, bond, fight, forgive and heal.

Pankiw warms up the audience with Sam’s roommates Paige and Philip (Sabrina Jalees and Caleb Hearon, both terrific) poking fun at a 14-year-old runaway, Brooke (Olga Petsa), last seen smashing in their front door. “She’s probably loving the missing person posters,” Paige drolls. “They used a selfie, she looks great.”

Before she was a recluse, Sam was the lost girl’s nanny. The film is peppered with happier flashbacks to when Sam and Brooke were best pals, a team-up that annoyed Brooke’s humorless dad (Jason Jones). We track time through the perkiness of Sam’s posture and ponytail. Depression films can be a drag. Fortunately, Sennott is entertaining even as a mope.

The script takes an annoyingly long time revealing what went wrong (and then rushes the resolution). Pankiw is more focused on the aftereffects of trauma on a character who wields quips as both weapon and shield. A former stand-up herself, Sennott holds a stage with command. Off-duty, unshowered and unable to move on, Sam is self-aware enough to know that she is exhausting her friends — and the film keeps tabs on how often she and her gang must claim they’re just kidding around.

I Used to Be Funny Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes. In theaters.

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Loudmouth movie review & film summary (2022)
Loudmouth. In 1973, R&B legend James Brown appears on "Soul Train," and host Don Cornelius asks him for his advice to young people. Brown tells them to work on themselves. And then Cornelius introduces a 19-year-old who is embarking on a lifetime of working on the rest of the world. Like Brown, he has impressive hair and is completely at ...
Loudmouth
Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/12/22 Full Review LaDonna What I liked about the movie was Rev. Al Sharpton is a beast who doesnt bite his tongue. I really appreciate a strong man ...
'Loudmouth' Review: Portrait of Al Sharpton as a Young Man
In the sympathetic documentary "Loudmouth," the Rev. Al Sharpton recounts the time Coretta Scott King admonished him for his rhetorical excesses. The film's writer-director, Josh Alexander ...
'Loudmouth' Review: An Unapologetic Look at the Reverend Al ...
'Loudmouth' Review: A Portrait of the Reverend Al Sharpton Captures His Activism, His Notoriety, and the Dance Between the Two Reviewed online (Tribeca Film Festival), June 22, 2020. Running ...
'Loudmouth' Review: An Unsatisfying Al Sharpton Documentary
Loudmouth begins with the 1986 murder of Michael Griffith, a 23-year-old Black man whose car broke down one December morning in Howard Beach. While trying to find help, the young man and his ...
Loudmouth
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 4, 2023. Fascinating as it is to see the sheer drive and determination of a man who builds his persona with unwavering dedication, Loudmouth can appear ...
'Loudmouth' review: It really is about Al Sharpton this time
Review: Al Sharpton documentary 'Loudmouth' is a profile in one voice — his. The Rev. Al Sharpton in the biographical documentary "Loudmouth.". If anyone understands the power of media ...
Loudmouth (2022)
Loudmouth: Directed by Josh Alexander. With Al Sharpton, Andrew Cuomo, Chuck Schumer, Phil Griffin. It tells the story of Rev. Al Sharpton, painting an intimate portrait of a tireless warrior who has never ducked a fight in his mission to transform the status quo.
Review
The cheekily titled "Loudmouth" has been marketed as a look back at Sharpton's life and career, but the film's emphasis is mainly on the latter, presenting almost 40-year-old footage of ...
'Loudmouth' Review: Rev. Al Sharpton Doc Wavers Between Inspirational
December 8, 2022 @ 12:15 PM. This review originally ran June 19, 2022, in conjunction with the film's world premiere at the Tribeca Festival. Introducing "Loudmouth" at the Tribeca Festival ...
'Loudmouth' Review: Rev. Al Sharpton Doc Wavers Between ...
This review originally ran June 19, 2022, in conjunction with the film's world premiere at the Tribeca Festival. Introducing "Loudmouth" at the Tribeca Festival, Robert De Niro referred to ...
Loudmouth
Dec 6, 2022. The film, at two hours, still feels padded out with recent history. I would have liked, instead, to see some other dimension of Sharpton — who he is away from the protest marches. "Loudmouth" feels highly controlled, almost overly focused on Sharpton's political identity at the expense of everything else. Read More.
Loudmouth (2022)
It tells the story of Rev. Al Sharpton, painting an intimate portrait of a tireless warrior who has never ducked a fight in his mission to transform the status quo.
‎Loudmouth (2022) directed by Josh Alexander • Reviews, film + cast
Loudmouth paints Sharpton as one of the great civil rights leaders of our day, whitewashing his shameful history of race-baiting and corruption. The film mixes Sharpton's direct-to-camera commentary with news and talk show footage, meaning that there are no critical voices or tough questions.
Review: 'Loudmouth' Reflects the Distinction Between Creating News and
Loudmouth is an engaging documentary about Rev. Al Sharpton's life and challenges as a social justice activist. The film is directed and written by Josh Alexander (United Skates, HBO Docs), who nimbly reflects the similarities of the fight for social justice in New York City from the 1980s and '90s to 2020.On December 20, 1986, in Howard Beach, Queens, Michael Griffith was murdered by a ...
Loudmouth
Josh Alexander 's Loudmouth documents the winding road that is Al Sharpton's life story as an iconic activist and spiritual leader. Viewers peek under the fold and witness the unrestricted details of Sharpton's development from an 8-year-old preacher to a (sometimes painted as controversial) civil rights figure.
Loudmouth Review: Straight from the Reverend's Mouth
Reviews. 6 mins read. Loudmouth. (USA, 123 min.) Dir. Josh Alexander. Reverend Al Sharpton is a loudmouth. That statement means no disrespect to the minister and civil right activist. Rather, it's an observation of fact and necessity. Josh Alexander's appropriately titled documentary Loudmouth charts Sharpton's journey as a voice for the ...
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IN THEATERS DECEMBER 9. ON AMAZON & APPLE TV JANUARY 13. Rabble rouser or activist? Opportunist or trailblazer? During his six-decade journey from pastoral p...
Loudmouth Featured, Reviews Film Threat
The name Rev. Al Sharpton elicits strong responses. In fact, the opening clips of writer-director Josh Alexander's documentary Loudmouth contain a 1993 60 Minutes interview with Mike Wallace in which Wallace rattles off a laundry list of (mostly white) critics of Sharpton, including: "impresario of hatred, demagogue, hate-monger, and racist clown." Sharpton stares stone-faced, taking the ...
Loudmouth (2022)
Josh Alexander's Loudmouth documents the winding road that is Al Sharpton's life story as an iconic activist and spiritual leader. Josh Alexander. Director, Writer.
Loudmouth (2022) Movie Reviews
From racial justice firebrand to elder media statesman, LOUDMOUTH is the definitive look at the life and battles of the Reverend Al Sharpton. ... Loudmouth (2022) Critic Reviews and Ratings Powered by Rotten Tomatoes Rate Movie. Close Audience Score. The percentage of users who made a verified movie ticket purchase and rated this 3.5 stars or ...
Loudmouth (2022) Movie Reviews
From racial justice firebrand to elder media statesman, LOUDMOUTH is the definitive look at the life and battles of the Reverend Al Sharpton. ... Loudmouth (2022) Fan Reviews and Ratings Powered by Rotten Tomatoes Rate Movie. Close Audience Score. The percentage of users who made a verified movie ticket purchase and rated this 3.5 stars or ...
Loudmouth Reviews Threads
(#WWIII, #WorldWarIII, #nuclearwar) Here some Loudmouth on the Internet with an opinion reviews the scariest movie ever made and explain why the movie is so ...
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June 1, 2024. When it comes to who gets the most attention during the Tribeca Festival, the actors, the directors and the celebrities who walk the red carpet are foremost. But behind the scenes ...
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
Deadpool & Wolverine: Directed by Shawn Levy. With Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin. Wolverine is recovering from his injuries when he crosses paths with the loudmouth Deadpool. They team up to defeat a common enemy.
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An illuminating documentary about the ill-fated (though now-revived) subscription service finds an unexpected story. "MoviePass, MovieCrash," a new documentary by Muta'Ali, premiering ...
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6. 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga'. In the prequel to "Mad Max: Fury Road," Anya Taylor-Joy takes over Charlize Theron's title role as young Furiosa embarks upon an epic revenge quest that involves ...
Review: 'Under Paris' Is The Best Shark Movie Since 'Jaws'
The problem shark movies have is they got it right the first time. Yes, I know there were shark movies before Jaws, but that 1975 Spielberg classic made sharks mainstream, and since then it has never been surpassed.Under Paris doesn't quite escape the long triangular shadow of that movie either, but it has a better go than most wannabes in the last few decades.
'Bad Boys: Ride or Die' review: Will Smith and Martin ...
For all the violence in "Bad Boys: Ride or Die" (and there's plenty), the fourth entry in a near-30-year-old franchise, the movie feels like a safe space for Will Smith, a strategic retreat ...
'I Used to Be Funny' Review: Bruising Punchlines
Off-duty, unshowered and unable to move on, Sam is self-aware enough to know that she is exhausting her friends — and the film keeps tabs on how often she and her gang must claim they're just ...

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