The Loudest Voice is the story of Roger Ailes, an American man who worked in the television and political industries and is well known for his position within the Fox News network. Starring Russell Crowe in an abundance of prosthetic and makeup, The Loudest Voice begins in 1995 when Ailes political career appears to be over and he begins working with Rupert Murdoch to launch the new Fox News network. Also starring Sienna Miller, Seth MacFarlane, Naomi Watts and Simon McBurney, the story follows Ailes takeover of the Fox News channel project twelve months before it launches, with the first episode of the series ending on launch day.
I’ll be the first to admit The Loudest Voice is not an easy show to watch unless you know at least a little bit of the back story regarding either Roger Ailes, Fox News or even Rupert Murdoch. The show does introduce a lot of important characters in rapid succession and even jumps in at 1995, halfway through Ailes career. Some characters do discuss other points in Ailes career however the show does seem to do its best to keep the verbal delivery of extra information quite subtle (meaning I watched the show with subtitles on to catch any throw-away lines and still didn’t understand the context of everything that was going on).
As far as Crowe’s portrayal of Ailes, I think that the show is going to reignite the discussion around the man, his career and his opinions, and whether these things should or even can be separated. From episode one, Ailes is shown in a relatively negative light, making sexist and racist comments, yelling and speaking inappropriately to his new employees. His character also expresses a strong opinion about needing to be a voice for the conservative people of America and about feeling negatively towards the ‘liberally swayed media’ such as NBC and MSNBC. This discussion of giving voices to political groups and questioning the media does feel oddly familiar to the media and political freedom discussions occurring at the moment (both within America and closer to home in Australia). I think that this relevance to the current day media and political debates is one of the reasons behind choosing to make this show now – Ailes only passed away in 2017 and yet the book that this show is based upon has been published since 2014.
Show creators Alex Metcalf and Tom McCarthy have an interesting back catalogue between them and I wonder if the direction of The Loudest Voice will begin to share similarities with previous projects including Sharp Objects (Metcalf), 13 Reasons Why and Spotlight (both McCarthy). It’s obvious that these two creators/producers are drawn to working on gritty and dramatic stories and although based on true events I still wonder whether The Loudest Voice will also get darker and grittier as it delves further into Ailes story.
I believe The Loudest Voice is a television show that has come to its intended audience at a relevant time; if you’re interested in politics or news media this show will be enjoyable and there is enough drama mixed with factual events to keep you immersed. Crowe seems to be doing an impressive job playing Ailes and his supporting cast including Seth MacFarlane and Sienna Miller who we see a lot of in episode one, are supporting him fantastically. Whether this show will get darker, grittier or more engaging only time will tell but for now it is the dry yet effective news-based television show you expect it to be.
Episode One is available now on Stan with new episodes streaming weekly.
Score: 3.5/5