Don't be turned off by a few negative reviews that simply complain about liberal bias. This is a well-rounded show about one of the most influential people of the last two decades. I think it does a great job of showing his genuine love for his family, his country (or his own idea of America), his immense skill, confidence, and determination, while also shows his (very) dark side. I don't think it's biased when we know for a fact he abused women and created a whole new level of spin in the media (not saying there's none of that on the left) while also treating some of his employees badly. It's a great character study and a pretty good insight into the mind of conservative elites.
Sorry, there are no car chases or gun fights, but it should entertain anyone with an interest in politics and modern media. I think Crowe is a shoo-in for an Emmy, and several others involved will probably get nominated as well.
130 Reviews
nail on the coffin
Milind0428 July 2019
Crowe delivered a career best since gladiator.the performance is so nuanced you feel every breath he takes a masterful writing and supporting cast at best.
this is how a character study is done without being prejudiced towards anything it shows a way for all the others.
Kudos
Loving It
annlevtex29 July 2019
Some are complaining that this is one-sided and "Anti-Fox." Well, for one, it is more about Ailes than about Fox. It follows his individual journey, which is mostly entangled in his creation of the Fox News division, but which also includes some.....messy personal stuff. Crowe immerses himself in the role as he always has, pulling off a great performance. The supporting cast is excellent, and Seth McFarland is wonderful to see in a dramatic (and slightly comedic, of course) role. Annabelle Wallis, to whom I never warmed at all in "Peaky Blinders," is very good in a strong supporting role. The other female cast members do a great job, even if Sienna Miller's role as Ailes' GF and future wife seems to make a sudden heel-turn, I later feel it was inevitable. They do a great job immersing us in the day-to-day chaos of the news cycle that the network is trying to dominate and conquer. I love the intensity of Ailes' interest in (as in obsession with ) Obama and his administration, and the delve into the rather grim childhood that he wrongly nostaligizes. They lay the groundwork for the Trumpism-to-come quite well, and I can say this even though I am not quite done with the series. One feels for and yet wants to shake those in his orbit or question and doubt him but cannot quite resist his toxic but compelling force. It depicts a moment that became a movement.....a. very unfortunate one.
Crowe deserves an Emmy for this role.
robpennpacino8 July 2019
I have just watched the first two episodes and really enjoyed the writing, the direction and the acting but particularly Russell Crowe as Roger Ailes you can tell that he took all of his nuances on and just engrossed himself in the role completely.
I highly recommend this show and as the title suggests Crowe should get an Emmy for this portrayal.
I highly recommend this show and as the title suggests Crowe should get an Emmy for this portrayal.
Informative, not just political
sicestvulgus11 July 2019
I'm not American, I didn't know who Roger Ailes was. I only became aware of his existence a little before he died, just another fat cat with long arms and powerful connections who finally got what he deserved. I came into this for the cast and, to be frank, I was really curious. I like the story, the pace, the writing, I believe there is a fine balance between the informative and the political aspect. But really...the most important thing to say here is that Russell Crowe is CAPTIVATING!!! He is a seasoned actor, but the guy here is doing an astonishing job for which he deserves some kind of recognition. Bravo!!
Mind-blowing cast with a mind-blowing cinematography. A MUST SEE series.
Thessalonian31n23 July 2019
I literally have no words to describe the beauty of the actors they chose to play in this series. Russell Crowe, Naomi Watts, Sienna Miller, Seth MacFarlane.
What else do you want to name this a GOLDMINE.
It feels like a movie but at the same time it's not a movie. There is so much tension you really can't follow if you don't love it from the beginning.
It feels like a movie but at the same time it's not a movie. There is so much tension you really can't follow if you don't love it from the beginning.
Amazing
electricalhellfire15 July 2019
Russell Crowe is obviously one of the most underestimated actors of the last 2 decades. In this TV-Show he's as good as Christian Bale in his best movies ("The Machinist") and the story itself is captivating: why do we allow these manipulative liars to spread their poison, damaging the life of struggling, real people and make them applaud to their own destruction?
The Ugliness of Media moguls and their power
tm-sheehan1 August 2019
My Review - The Loudest Voice 7/10
I didn't know a lot about the name Roger Ailes before this series in which Russell Crowe again demonstrates what a great actor he is in this portrayal of an obese egomaniac driven by racial hate and prejudice with the same sense of entitlement a French King like Louis X1V would expect.
The new Showtime series ,streaming on Stan begins with Ailes rise in power and shows how he built a News empire on dishonesty, underhandedness, hostility, and greed. With deep-pocketed Rupert Murdoch (Simon McBurney) eager to get a piece of the news media industry, Ailes found a benefactor who'd let him run things his way, even if it skirted journalistic ethics before disposing of them completely. Fox News was born with the paradoxical missions of bringing "fair and balanced" commentary to the 24-hour cable game, and doing so by providing an expressly conservative viewpoint.
The Six part series covers the decade from 1995 to 2005 a very interesting time in the metamorphosis of media reporting when the true fake news began and covers Roger Ailes mission to discredit and stop Barak Obama in his race to the White House. It's the decade when powerful media moguls like Rupert Murdoch began to publish any story even if was untrue ( fake news) just to get it our there and damage their opponent.
It was also the beginning of the end of the era for sexual predators like Ailes to intimidate women with their wealth and power by threatening their careers if they didn't submit. His victims portrayed in this series by Naomi Watts as Gretchen Carlson and Annabelle Wallis as Laurie Luhn are moving and impressive. Sienna Miller who plays Beth Ailes the deluded Lady Macbeth wife of Ailes is also excellent in her role . The only performance that didn't impress me is Seth MCFarlane as Brian Lewis ,former Fox News Vice President I thought he was too weak and nice in a puppy dog way in his performance of a supposedly powerful Fox News Editor.
I'd recommend this series it helped me understand more how America got into the mess it's in today.
I didn't know a lot about the name Roger Ailes before this series in which Russell Crowe again demonstrates what a great actor he is in this portrayal of an obese egomaniac driven by racial hate and prejudice with the same sense of entitlement a French King like Louis X1V would expect.
The new Showtime series ,streaming on Stan begins with Ailes rise in power and shows how he built a News empire on dishonesty, underhandedness, hostility, and greed. With deep-pocketed Rupert Murdoch (Simon McBurney) eager to get a piece of the news media industry, Ailes found a benefactor who'd let him run things his way, even if it skirted journalistic ethics before disposing of them completely. Fox News was born with the paradoxical missions of bringing "fair and balanced" commentary to the 24-hour cable game, and doing so by providing an expressly conservative viewpoint.
The Six part series covers the decade from 1995 to 2005 a very interesting time in the metamorphosis of media reporting when the true fake news began and covers Roger Ailes mission to discredit and stop Barak Obama in his race to the White House. It's the decade when powerful media moguls like Rupert Murdoch began to publish any story even if was untrue ( fake news) just to get it our there and damage their opponent.
It was also the beginning of the end of the era for sexual predators like Ailes to intimidate women with their wealth and power by threatening their careers if they didn't submit. His victims portrayed in this series by Naomi Watts as Gretchen Carlson and Annabelle Wallis as Laurie Luhn are moving and impressive. Sienna Miller who plays Beth Ailes the deluded Lady Macbeth wife of Ailes is also excellent in her role . The only performance that didn't impress me is Seth MCFarlane as Brian Lewis ,former Fox News Vice President I thought he was too weak and nice in a puppy dog way in his performance of a supposedly powerful Fox News Editor.
I'd recommend this series it helped me understand more how America got into the mess it's in today.
Let them eat Crowe!
lucifer_over_tinseltown23 July 2019
Russell Crowe gains a quarter of a metric ton, loses a bushel of hair (he now has a toilet seat hairline), and rediscovers his acting chops! Built for comfort not speed. The scythe-sharp one-liners chortled by the rubenesque Crowe make this show a must watch. Well, along with strong support from Sienna Miller, Naomi Watts, and Seth McFartlane. The latter being an unexpected surprise. I'm sure he's quite humored by the parallels between the new and improved Crowe and Peter Griffin. They also nailed the white as plucked poultry complexion of Fox News as well. Back to Crowe though, easily his best since Romper Stomper. Which was also not unlike plucked poultry. Whether you interpret the show as satire, muckraking, the stone truth about Fox, or all of the above, it works. Keep eating, Crowe!
Watch at least one episode for Crowe
RubyMouse25 September 2019
As a European and not much of a Crowe fan, I didn't think I'd be interested in this. However, the series is fascinating for both the unfolding drama about the origins of Fox News and for the performance of Russell Crowe. Crowe is utterly compelling to watch and the story of the creation of a kind of "news" for people who want to "feel" informed is gripping and informative.
Fat. Ugly. Old.
whatithinkis31 July 2019
And still. STILL Russell Crowe mesmerizes. Fascinates. There is nothing likeable about this character, and there is a LOT that is unlikeable, horrible, and yet it stays with me long after each episode and I WANT to see it again. Soon.
I have always enjoyed Russell Crowe's work, but this . . . this stuns me. I am slammed, flapdoodled right in the face with what a monumental talent this man is.
I am so impressed.
So. Very. Impressed.
I have always enjoyed Russell Crowe's work, but this . . . this stuns me. I am slammed, flapdoodled right in the face with what a monumental talent this man is.
I am so impressed.
So. Very. Impressed.
CROWE DOES TOO GOOD A JOB
steve-667-1019031 July 2019
If Roger Ailes was half the slime ball as portrayed by Russell Crowe, than Crowe did a magnificent job of playing him. So good a job that I found it hard to watch.
When the lead character is as loathsome as Ailes, it's hard to empathise or root for him or her. The fact that it is based on a true story doesn't help as I'm not sure what side of politics the producers are on.
I have no problem with the production, the script (it seems good) but I'm not sure of the agenda. Also, why they chose a Brit to play Murdoch is beyond me. Americans do better Aussie accents than the Brits.
The makeup got worse as the series progressed.
My rating is mid ground. It's stilk worth a look.
When the lead character is as loathsome as Ailes, it's hard to empathise or root for him or her. The fact that it is based on a true story doesn't help as I'm not sure what side of politics the producers are on.
I have no problem with the production, the script (it seems good) but I'm not sure of the agenda. Also, why they chose a Brit to play Murdoch is beyond me. Americans do better Aussie accents than the Brits.
The makeup got worse as the series progressed.
My rating is mid ground. It's stilk worth a look.
Factual?
denverlev12 August 2019
Crowe is very good, but how factual is this story? Roger Ailes is dead, his wife is not talking and Carlson and many of the other main characters are under NDAs. Ailes was definitely a creep but how much speculation is the rest of this? How much fact is there in the conversations between Ailes and Trump? Obvious attempt to put a negative light on Trump.
Impressive
Philip_Marlowe_3 July 2019
It's very easy to go into this show with your own personal agenda, especially if you are American. However, the purpose of television dramas, or television news, for that matter, is not to pander to agendas, but to inform people of the facts and the history that created those facts. Fact 1: Fox News was only created in 1995 but is one of the most well-known news networks globally and arguably a cultural phenomenon. Fact 2: The team that created Fox News were intelligent business people with an incredible cultural awareness. Fact 3: The Audience of Fox News is predominantly conservative. Fact 4: Not everyone who works for fox, both behind and in front of the camera are conservative. These facts alone make for some compelling viewing. Add to that a stellar cast and writers and you get The Loudest Voice. Leave your agendas at the door and get an education on American News Media.
Don't believe the trolls
SimonHendursuhn3 July 2019
The Loudest Voice is fine television, so much so, that it feels like something belonging on HBO. But because of its political messages and subjects it is bound to be victim of trolls and people of different political beliefs whos views cloud what really is.
Don't believe the negative press from insecure basement dwellers online - The Loudest Voice is an interesting look into the world of Fox News and great television all around.
Don't believe the negative press from insecure basement dwellers online - The Loudest Voice is an interesting look into the world of Fox News and great television all around.
What a performance by Crowe!
martenekman-18 July 2019
This is not exactly a review, more of a reflection. I'm just two eps in, but so far a great show and what a stellar perfomance by Russel Crowe. It would surprise me a lot if he doesn't fill his shelves with a bunch of accolades after this.
A winner
cekadah30 June 2019
The first episode is captivating. I hope the next episode is equally good. A good summer watch to look forward to.
I have never been a Russell Crowe fan, but here he is firing on all eight cylinders as the conniving and toxic Roger Ailes changing the cable news landscape in the USA. I think this series will be a winner start to finish.
July 28, 2019 - up to episode 5 and everything is still top notch. An excellent series.
August 12, 2019 - Finished this series and it was a first class production with an excellent script and each actor became their character! This must be R. Crowe's best performance in his career. Every episode was captivating to watch.
I have never been a Russell Crowe fan, but here he is firing on all eight cylinders as the conniving and toxic Roger Ailes changing the cable news landscape in the USA. I think this series will be a winner start to finish.
July 28, 2019 - up to episode 5 and everything is still top notch. An excellent series.
August 12, 2019 - Finished this series and it was a first class production with an excellent script and each actor became their character! This must be R. Crowe's best performance in his career. Every episode was captivating to watch.
Entertaining Nonsense
btoews18 May 2021
Great performance by Crowe-just riveting. OTOH when you are putting together works of fiction based on actual persons it is a lot easier to make it entertaining when you feel no obligation to the truth-which is obviously the case here. Still worth a watch for Crowe's tour de force as Ailes.
Good series of how power, greed, and stubbornness brought down a TV giant.
blanbrn23 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
"Showtime's" latest 7 part series "The Loudest Voice" based on a best selling book is an in depth and clear showcase of one tough and wicked TV boss Roger Ailes. Played to perfection by Russell Crowe(and he even looks the part to a fit with weight gain and makeup!) Roger is an overweight man who's conservative and he likes to eat plenty and he's old stubborn and set in ways with a rural background plus he's a life long cheerleader for the Republican party. The series along the way after the character introduction shows how Ailes founded "FOX News" and how he would help spring the network to super ratings with his 911 coverage and for the way the network pushed freedom and gave a thumbs up for the "Iraq" war. And also how with the election of a new president in 2008 who Roger believed to be a socialist democrat he turned the network into debate hate with crazy stories of race relations!
Yet thru it all Roger Ailes despite power, control, greed, and stubbornness and having a power struggle and ego trip with media founder Rupert Murdoch had the biggest vice of all which lead to his downfall that was beautiful women. From one pretty intern to another pretty network executive assistant Mr. Ailes would bed many of them while wife Beth(Sienna Miller) would just look the other way. Finally this big game of sexual misconduct and harassment would be exposed by morning anchor Gretchen Carlson(Naomi Watts). Overall good series of how one's own powerful self poison, and manipulative manner can help destroy them and lead to a personal self destruction.
Yet thru it all Roger Ailes despite power, control, greed, and stubbornness and having a power struggle and ego trip with media founder Rupert Murdoch had the biggest vice of all which lead to his downfall that was beautiful women. From one pretty intern to another pretty network executive assistant Mr. Ailes would bed many of them while wife Beth(Sienna Miller) would just look the other way. Finally this big game of sexual misconduct and harassment would be exposed by morning anchor Gretchen Carlson(Naomi Watts). Overall good series of how one's own powerful self poison, and manipulative manner can help destroy them and lead to a personal self destruction.
Started off strong but fell down flat...
yasan_parto5 December 2020
Following the release of Bombshell and the #MeToo movement and similar uprisings around sexual assault, it was only timely that this series was made.
Held together by the performances of Russell Crowe, Sienna Miller and Naomi Watts, the series starts off strong showcasing a man who enjoys his work and the influence he has but gets caught up in the power he has been given and only knows how to misuse it. However, the series derails in writing from the mid-point on where it starts to present Roger Ailes as a villain (even though he was) and it does an intentional effort in showcasing his tyrannical side overshadowing every thing else he is in his life, a loving husband and a successful executive. And this change of tone unfortunately presents itself in Crowe's performance where the audience feels they are being mouth-fed by the narration towards what they SHOULD think of Roger Ailes and not what they COULD.
Otherwise, the series stays true to the facts of the event and how things progressed, although maybe dramatizing some details a little too much (like the guy that gets hired to run the local paper and the things that happen to him). Had it not been for the stellar cast mentioned above, it wouldn't have been worth watching after a couple episodes but the cast pulls through.
Held together by the performances of Russell Crowe, Sienna Miller and Naomi Watts, the series starts off strong showcasing a man who enjoys his work and the influence he has but gets caught up in the power he has been given and only knows how to misuse it. However, the series derails in writing from the mid-point on where it starts to present Roger Ailes as a villain (even though he was) and it does an intentional effort in showcasing his tyrannical side overshadowing every thing else he is in his life, a loving husband and a successful executive. And this change of tone unfortunately presents itself in Crowe's performance where the audience feels they are being mouth-fed by the narration towards what they SHOULD think of Roger Ailes and not what they COULD.
Otherwise, the series stays true to the facts of the event and how things progressed, although maybe dramatizing some details a little too much (like the guy that gets hired to run the local paper and the things that happen to him). Had it not been for the stellar cast mentioned above, it wouldn't have been worth watching after a couple episodes but the cast pulls through.
What happened after though?
LeanneBarker19 November 2019
The story was "good" leading up to the final episode- but a whole second series/season could be done to satisfy the curiosity of what occurred afterwards... the few paragraphs posted at the end, really don't do much to appease an audience that watched this play out in real time; a "great" story would be one that covers the behind the scene frantic-antics that FOX had to put into motion to recover from this.
The acting was phenomenal. Everything was perfectly done- it just left you hanging with an empty void that could have been satisfied with 3 or 4 more episodes that showed how FOX handled the rest of the story.
The acting was phenomenal. Everything was perfectly done- it just left you hanging with an empty void that could have been satisfied with 3 or 4 more episodes that showed how FOX handled the rest of the story.
Could have been great
sirtorch29 July 2019
Boring and Beyond Bias
csliger93119 January 2020
I usually don't care what "slant" a film/show takes. We all have opinions and we all want people to know them. But this show goes beyond slanted and into the realm of downright misleading. You will not get a remotely accurate portrayal of Fox or Ailes in this show. Instead, it's a microphone for leftist directors and actors who have an agenda..and that agenda is not making a good show. As for the show itself, It's too slow-paced to keep anyone's attention. The only people who like this show are those who agree with it's politics and care nothing about the actual content. For those of you who will simply write my review off as conservative trolling, I propose this: let's have Sean Hannity make a show about Ted Turner and see if you still have the same amount of enthusiasm.
A fine overview of a pivotal figure in American socio-political history and an insightful piece of cultural anthropology
Bertaut10 July 2020
Although it may seem bizarre to more rational minds, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the wearing of protective face masks has somehow become a partisan issue in the Divided States of America. How does a country get to this point - how does it become so ideologically at odds with itself that even the issue of breathing is a political battleground? It's easy to blame Trump - he is, after all, as incendiary as he is incompetent - but this division was gestating before his rise to power. The US from 2016 has been called Trump's America, but it is less his than another man's; the real architect of the partisan hatred we see today at all levels of society was Roger Ailes.
Based on The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News - and Divided a Country by Gabriel Sherman (2014), The Loudest Voice takes as its subject Ailes's rise and fall, and the concomitant rise and ongoing success of Fox News, the "fair and balanced" news network he founded in 1996, creating a nationwide platform for his particular brand of fear, intolerance, and xenophobia masquerading as patriotism. And whilst Bombshell (2019) focuses on the women who brought Ailes down, The Loudest Voice is more interested in the man himself. Depicting a man who believed (correctly, as it turned out) in the profitability of fudging the distinction between reporting the facts and offering opinions on them, the show illustrates the damage such an ideology can have on society as a whole. Does it tell us anything new? Not really. Is it biased? Absolutely. Is it subtle? Not even a little. However, it's well-written, brilliantly acted, extremely well-mounted, and, for the most part, it avoids caricature.
Rather than providing a straightforward biographical account of Ailes (played a superb Russell Crowe behind a layer of not-always-convincing prosthetics), the show instead focuses on seven key events, looking at one per episode, beginning with the formation of Fox News ("1995"). The following six deal with Ailes and Fox's response to 9/11 ("2001"); the rise of Barack Obama, who Ailes sees as a non-American Muslim-educated communist intent on destroying the country ("2008"); Ailes and his wife Beth (Sienna Miller in a performance every bit as good as Crowe's) purchasing a local newspaper in their home town of Garrison, New York ("2009"); Obama running for a second term ("2012"); the rise of Donald Trump ("2015"); and Ailes being sued by Gretchen Carlson (Naomi Watts) for sexual harassment ("2016").
The most immediately obvious element of Loudest Voice is the non-linear editing, which is not dissimilar to Oliver Stone's use of "vertical editing". So whilst 90% of any given scene will be cut fairly conventionally, the other 10% will be out of sequence - so a conversation, for example, might feature the occasional shot of one of the participants returning to their office.
The most impactful scene in this respect occurs in "2009"; a scene of Ailes compelling employee Laurie Luhn (Annabelle Wallis) to give him oral sex, intercut with her cleaning her mouth out in the bathroom afterwards. It's a horrific moment and a brilliant example of using the mechanics of the medium to comment on the events depicted without resorting to dialogue, showing us how disjointed editing can be thematic, telling us all we need to know about Luhn's attitude towards her relationship with Ailes, particularly the power disparity upon which it is built and upon which he depends.
While we're on the subject of Luhn, her storyline is one of the show's most effective. Her discomfit with the relationship is hinted at throughout the first two episodes, but it's only in "2008" that it takes centre stage, culminating in a horror show of mental collapse across two episodes. There's an obvious reason for structuring things this way; Luhn's role in the story is to serve as a precursor to Carlson. Additionally, the early scenes between her and Ailes are really the only ones that speak to his darker characteristics, which go on to be such an important theme in later episodes. Much like John Lithgow in Bombshell, Crowe initially plays Ailes as intelligent, inspiring, funny, charming, even nurturing, and the only real suggestion of the depravity beneath that veneer comes in the form of the increasingly disturbing sex scenes between him and Luhn.
Thematically, the show doesn't do a whole lot you wouldn't expect. So, for example, Ailes and Fox's roles in dividing the country along ideological lines is a major focus, and nowhere is it more paramount, or more effectively conveyed, than in "2009". Here, we see Ailes stoking the fires of division in Garrison by interjecting himself into a dispute amongst the locals about zoning regulations, supposedly playing the conscientious neighbour fighting for the little man, but really just out for himself. This is the microcosm. In the same episode, we see the increasingly volatile clashes between Obama supporters and those who oppose him, fuelled by Fox's anti-Obama vitriol and scaremongering, even as the network champions itself as standing up for the silent "real Americans". This is the macrocosm. Both strands depict Ailes fomenting division for his own ends, all the while claiming to be fighting for the common man. As visual metaphors go, cutting between a fractious townhall meeting in Garrison and news coverage of street clashes across the country is more than a little heavy-handed, but it is effective in getting the point across - Ailes was very good at breeding division, and even better at convincing people he was acting out of genuine grievances, a concern for working-class America, and a love of the flag. The show essentially suggests that Fox was the propagandistic manifestation of Ailes's conservatism - self-interested, permanently aggrieved, and unashamedly xenophobic.
And of course, there's the constant theme of Ailes and Fox's crimes against journalism (in an early quote, he hilariously argues, "at Fox, our aim is to be objective"). "2001" features a scene in which Ailes willingly turns Fox into the propagandist arm of the Republican Party, promising the Bush administration that the network will support an illegal war he knows has no justification in reality. An even clearer look at Ailes's lack of journalistic morality comes in "2008", when discussing the presidential election being contested by Obama and John McCain. Ailes pushes his staff to find evidence of Obama's Muslim education and Michelle's apparent racism, stating, "Obama has managed to trick the entire media, except for us, into getting behind him and his socialist ideas and manifestos. The last two guys who did that? Hitler and Stalin. That man is a danger to this country, and it is on us to make sure the voters know." Again, none of this is subtle, but neither was Ailes himself.
Of course, a lack of subtlety isn't the show's only issue, but none of its other problems are especially damaging. Although it improves exponentially as time goes on and Ailes grows older, the prosthetic work in the first couple of episodes is really poor, especially in bright light. Ailes's skin is far too smooth and plastic-like, as if he's been run through a Photoshop filter a dozen times too many. Another issue is that the high quality of the first two and last two episodes leads to some narrative sag in the middle three, and I'm not entirely convinced that seven hours were necessary. Tied to this is some unusual choices when deciding what content to include and what to leave out - so we get, for example, an entire episode on the purchasing of a local newspaper, but there's no mention of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal in 1998, which was Fox's first big ratings win.
If Roger Ailes didn't exactly build the Divided States with his own hands, at the very least, those who did were working from his blueprint, and The Loudest Voice is a very fine deconstruction of that blueprint. Certainly, it's more interested in probing the political impact of Fox than examining the psychology of the man, and it's disappointingly silent on the question of why he did what he did - it never really deals, for example, with whether or not Ailes genuinely believed he was fighting the good fight or if he recognised that he was essentially a snake oil salesman. And accusations that it's one-sided can't be denied - it's a show that never advances beyond reinforcing everything the left already believe about Ailes and Fox. However, for all that, it's very enjoyable - the acting is top-notch, the aesthetic superb, and the events it recounts of great importance in today's cultural climate.
Based on The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News - and Divided a Country by Gabriel Sherman (2014), The Loudest Voice takes as its subject Ailes's rise and fall, and the concomitant rise and ongoing success of Fox News, the "fair and balanced" news network he founded in 1996, creating a nationwide platform for his particular brand of fear, intolerance, and xenophobia masquerading as patriotism. And whilst Bombshell (2019) focuses on the women who brought Ailes down, The Loudest Voice is more interested in the man himself. Depicting a man who believed (correctly, as it turned out) in the profitability of fudging the distinction between reporting the facts and offering opinions on them, the show illustrates the damage such an ideology can have on society as a whole. Does it tell us anything new? Not really. Is it biased? Absolutely. Is it subtle? Not even a little. However, it's well-written, brilliantly acted, extremely well-mounted, and, for the most part, it avoids caricature.
Rather than providing a straightforward biographical account of Ailes (played a superb Russell Crowe behind a layer of not-always-convincing prosthetics), the show instead focuses on seven key events, looking at one per episode, beginning with the formation of Fox News ("1995"). The following six deal with Ailes and Fox's response to 9/11 ("2001"); the rise of Barack Obama, who Ailes sees as a non-American Muslim-educated communist intent on destroying the country ("2008"); Ailes and his wife Beth (Sienna Miller in a performance every bit as good as Crowe's) purchasing a local newspaper in their home town of Garrison, New York ("2009"); Obama running for a second term ("2012"); the rise of Donald Trump ("2015"); and Ailes being sued by Gretchen Carlson (Naomi Watts) for sexual harassment ("2016").
The most immediately obvious element of Loudest Voice is the non-linear editing, which is not dissimilar to Oliver Stone's use of "vertical editing". So whilst 90% of any given scene will be cut fairly conventionally, the other 10% will be out of sequence - so a conversation, for example, might feature the occasional shot of one of the participants returning to their office.
The most impactful scene in this respect occurs in "2009"; a scene of Ailes compelling employee Laurie Luhn (Annabelle Wallis) to give him oral sex, intercut with her cleaning her mouth out in the bathroom afterwards. It's a horrific moment and a brilliant example of using the mechanics of the medium to comment on the events depicted without resorting to dialogue, showing us how disjointed editing can be thematic, telling us all we need to know about Luhn's attitude towards her relationship with Ailes, particularly the power disparity upon which it is built and upon which he depends.
While we're on the subject of Luhn, her storyline is one of the show's most effective. Her discomfit with the relationship is hinted at throughout the first two episodes, but it's only in "2008" that it takes centre stage, culminating in a horror show of mental collapse across two episodes. There's an obvious reason for structuring things this way; Luhn's role in the story is to serve as a precursor to Carlson. Additionally, the early scenes between her and Ailes are really the only ones that speak to his darker characteristics, which go on to be such an important theme in later episodes. Much like John Lithgow in Bombshell, Crowe initially plays Ailes as intelligent, inspiring, funny, charming, even nurturing, and the only real suggestion of the depravity beneath that veneer comes in the form of the increasingly disturbing sex scenes between him and Luhn.
Thematically, the show doesn't do a whole lot you wouldn't expect. So, for example, Ailes and Fox's roles in dividing the country along ideological lines is a major focus, and nowhere is it more paramount, or more effectively conveyed, than in "2009". Here, we see Ailes stoking the fires of division in Garrison by interjecting himself into a dispute amongst the locals about zoning regulations, supposedly playing the conscientious neighbour fighting for the little man, but really just out for himself. This is the microcosm. In the same episode, we see the increasingly volatile clashes between Obama supporters and those who oppose him, fuelled by Fox's anti-Obama vitriol and scaremongering, even as the network champions itself as standing up for the silent "real Americans". This is the macrocosm. Both strands depict Ailes fomenting division for his own ends, all the while claiming to be fighting for the common man. As visual metaphors go, cutting between a fractious townhall meeting in Garrison and news coverage of street clashes across the country is more than a little heavy-handed, but it is effective in getting the point across - Ailes was very good at breeding division, and even better at convincing people he was acting out of genuine grievances, a concern for working-class America, and a love of the flag. The show essentially suggests that Fox was the propagandistic manifestation of Ailes's conservatism - self-interested, permanently aggrieved, and unashamedly xenophobic.
And of course, there's the constant theme of Ailes and Fox's crimes against journalism (in an early quote, he hilariously argues, "at Fox, our aim is to be objective"). "2001" features a scene in which Ailes willingly turns Fox into the propagandist arm of the Republican Party, promising the Bush administration that the network will support an illegal war he knows has no justification in reality. An even clearer look at Ailes's lack of journalistic morality comes in "2008", when discussing the presidential election being contested by Obama and John McCain. Ailes pushes his staff to find evidence of Obama's Muslim education and Michelle's apparent racism, stating, "Obama has managed to trick the entire media, except for us, into getting behind him and his socialist ideas and manifestos. The last two guys who did that? Hitler and Stalin. That man is a danger to this country, and it is on us to make sure the voters know." Again, none of this is subtle, but neither was Ailes himself.
Of course, a lack of subtlety isn't the show's only issue, but none of its other problems are especially damaging. Although it improves exponentially as time goes on and Ailes grows older, the prosthetic work in the first couple of episodes is really poor, especially in bright light. Ailes's skin is far too smooth and plastic-like, as if he's been run through a Photoshop filter a dozen times too many. Another issue is that the high quality of the first two and last two episodes leads to some narrative sag in the middle three, and I'm not entirely convinced that seven hours were necessary. Tied to this is some unusual choices when deciding what content to include and what to leave out - so we get, for example, an entire episode on the purchasing of a local newspaper, but there's no mention of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal in 1998, which was Fox's first big ratings win.
If Roger Ailes didn't exactly build the Divided States with his own hands, at the very least, those who did were working from his blueprint, and The Loudest Voice is a very fine deconstruction of that blueprint. Certainly, it's more interested in probing the political impact of Fox than examining the psychology of the man, and it's disappointingly silent on the question of why he did what he did - it never really deals, for example, with whether or not Ailes genuinely believed he was fighting the good fight or if he recognised that he was essentially a snake oil salesman. And accusations that it's one-sided can't be denied - it's a show that never advances beyond reinforcing everything the left already believe about Ailes and Fox. However, for all that, it's very enjoyable - the acting is top-notch, the aesthetic superb, and the events it recounts of great importance in today's cultural climate.
Very Well Done
conway300013 July 2019
I am enjoying The Loudest Voice. Not only is it informative, but the story telling as well as acting is first rate. The Emmy organization should get Russell Crowe's emmy award ready. Russell Crowe is a superb actor in everything he does and this series is no exception.
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