A documentary by Barbara Kopple. Rating unavailable

Sharon Jones more than earns the exclamation mark in the title of this fast-moving doc, even if the film itself does nothing to shout about. That’s surprising, since it is produced and directed by Barbara Kopple, two-time Oscar winner (Harlan County U.S.A. is a film-school perennial) and maker of several socially minded music docs.

Kopple leans heavily on the high-energy engagement of her subject, a late-blooming leader—now 60—of the retro-soul movement associated with her Brooklyn backing band, the Dap-Kings. Its label, Daptone, did a similar revival with Charles Bradley, an even older singer who had toiled in the background, as did Jones, who performed in wedding bands and behind other singers before her ascension, less than 15 years ago.

Aside from the wedding-band bit, however, the movie gives you almost nothing about her biography or creative history. Instead, after a scattershot opening that throws myriad trailerlike clips through the editing blender, Miss Sharon Jones! leads with the singer’s ongoing battle with cancer and pretty much stays there for 90 minutes. Endless rounds of hospital visits are interrupted by formulaic chats with bandmates who—guess what?—express their concern for her well-being and ability to keep going.

There’s zero attention paid to who writes and arranges the somewhat forgettable, ’60s-style songs that appear to be handed to her fully formed. But does she really have so little input? There’s some decent rehearsal footage, itself leading to a triumphant return that belatedly makes the case for her greatness as a singer and performer. Throughout, Jones displays exemplary courage and patience, using her downtime to dabble in paint-by-numbers art projects. Given the rare intimacy the filmmaker was allowed, it’s a shame that Kopple took the same approach.