Media Coverage

‘Speak.’ Review: A Rousing Documentary About Five Teenagers Vying to Win an Oratory Competition

Premiering at Sundance, Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman’s documentary is crowd-pleasing entertainment in the vein of sports movies.

Directed by Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman, “Speak.” is the type of documentary one can easily imagine being adapted into a dramatic feature down the road. It has a linear and easily digestible narrative, vivid and empathetic protagonists and a format that unspools like a sports film, depicting the triumph and disappointment of competition. Following a year in the life of five American teenagers as they prepare and perform to win a national oratory contest, “Speak.” is so rousing and audience-friendly, it plays like the nonfiction equivalent of “Bend It Like Beckham” or “A League of Their Own.”

Read the review.