Movie Review | ‘She Said
It's no wonder that every few years, one movie after another becomes a serious contender for the Oscar for Best Picture.
People in the film industry love stories about how films are made.
Similarly, journalists love films about journalism.
All the President's Men, a 1976 drama about two Washington Post reporters who broke the Watergate story, will forever be a favorite of many journalists.
For the person who wrote these words, it's 2015's Spotlight, an effort by the Boston Globe's Pulitzer Prize-winning research group to shed light on widespread sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests, an effort that led to the Church hid it. This is the closest thing to perfection in cinema.
So we're leaning towards She Said, last week's drama about two New York Times reporters who want to investigate allegations of sexual harassment and subsequent payments to victims to keep quiet, only to get a tip from film industry giant Harvey Weinstein. Of course.
However, many elements in this beautiful chronicle of the hard work of journalists Megan Toohey and Judy Kantor deserve praise, from the special performances of Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan to director Maria Schrader's energetic but leisurely pace and thoughtful storytelling. Screenwriter Rebeka Lenkiewicz.
The film is based on Toohey and Kantor's bestselling book, She Said: Revealing the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement following Meghan's 2016 sexual assault allegations against then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Months later, Trump is elected and Meghan is suffering from what may not just be postpartum depression.
Meanwhile, Jody, a mother of two girls, is investigating the Weinstein case. She seeks dialogue with other actresses and women who have worked with him and may have been abused by an incredibly powerful man.
Back at work, Megan persuades Judy to work with her, including then Associate Editor Rebecca Corbett (Patricia Clarkson), who will be keeping a close eye on the story.
And then we see Megan and Jodie follow the trail and seem to hit a dead end. And they're thrilled that actresses like Rose McGowan, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ashley Judd, who will play her in the film, as well as lesser-known women, will share their experiences with Weinstein.
But Weinstein is a huge figure both physically and figuratively, the producer of blockbusters like Crime Scene Investigation and Good Will Hunting, and the winner of multiple Oscars, and it won't be easy. (Weinstein appears on the actual recording, made by a woman and played by Mike Huston, during phone conversations and from the beginning.)
The Times reporters also learned that they were arguing over the article with New Yorker columnist Ronan Farrow, who published his article a few days after the Times article in October 2017.
As Kazan (The Plot Against America, The Big Patient), Judy is very sensitive, listening to the alleged victims with an expression of understanding and deep concern on her face.
In Mulligan's hands (A Promising Young Woman, The Education), Megan becomes a little more outspoken, demonstrating her ability to be tough on male sources when she needs information from them. (And you can't help but rejoice at the moment she lashes out at the guy at the bar who won't leave her, Judy, and Rebecca alone as they try to get together in this story. Read The Room, The Age.)
Along with Clarkson ("The Station Agent"), Andre Broger ("Brooklyn Nine-Nine") provides a solid supporting job as then New York Times Editor-in-Chief Dean Paquet; Samantha Morton ("In America") as former Miramax employee Zelda Perkins; Specifically, Zero Dark Thirty's Jennifer Ehle plays Laura Madden, who is going through a personal crisis as reporters try to remember a traumatic moment from her past.
According to the producer's notes, a film of this magnitude was the first filmed in The Times' editing room, and access to the building during the new coronavirus pandemic, with many employees working remotely, gives a "real picture." authenticity,” I told them. And while we might argue that we don't actually see these reporters working in their offices, they make all their calls and interviews on the go, or at least by the window or break room to "She Said" which is a bit like an episode from Law & Order. At times, it's undeniable that Schroeder ("I'm Your Man," "Funky") gave him the energy he needed.
And since this movie is made up entirely of scenes of people talking, it helps that Lenkiewicz's dialogue smolders, but not excessively. You won't find any talk of Oscar bait here.
"She Said" reached the heights of "All the President's Men" and "Spotlight". Not from here, but very close.
Regardless, it tells an important story that gave a voice to women who deserved to be heard and fueled the #MeToo movement.
And, as Spotlight reports, it's not just about the perpetrator (Weinstein has since been convicted of third-degree rape and sex offense in New York and is on trial for rape in Los Angeles), but also about a system that allows violence. . .
She Said received an R rating for language and sexual violence.
Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes.
