Like me, you’ve probably heard two things about the Netflix-distributed Nobody Speak: 1.) That it follows the high-profile lawsuit former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan filed against former muck-raking website Gawker and 2.) That it is unexpectedly fantastic. Unfortunately, both of those points are only half-truths.
Nobody Speak’s biggest issue is its structure. Sure, I went in thinking it was only about Hogan v. Gawker, but that’s also how the film posits itself. So, when Nobody Speak suddenly switches topics for its third act and starts telling the story of a Las Vegas newspaper getting bought out by a self-serving billionaire, it’s jarring. It turns out that documentarian Brian Knappenberger’s intent is to use the two stories to illustrate the ways in which the wealthy are able to manipulate and censor the press. It’s a topic more than worthy of his (and our) attention, and Nobody Speak makes some unexpected and nuanced points, but the disjointed storytelling makes for a frustrating experience.
This foundational schism goes further than the uneven balance, though. Knappenberger loads up on Hogan and Gawker because it’s the more salacious of the two tales, but the newspaper segment illustrates his point so much more directly. Nobody Speak would work better if at least the stories were told in opposite order, but, since the film starts off by taking the difficult position of defending a controversial website that often veered into tabloid journalism, it struggled to win me over. Nobody Speak earned big buzz for handling a pressing subject, but this feels like the first draft of a far better documentary.
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