Ela Disse

My wife and I watched this new movie streaming on NBC's Peacock. While it is a bit over two hours it is so gripping that it never seemed long. It comes across almost as a documentary but is a dramatization using actors mostly.

It actually starts in 2015 when Trump was campaigning for President and the revelations that he had a history of sexual mistreatment of women but was elected anyway. In effect pointing out the double standard and the old boys' attitudes of "well it was just locker-room talk."

After that brief introduction to the subject the rest of this movie shows how two reporters with the NY Times pursued leads regarding Harvey Weinstein of Miramax and was finally able to get a number of women to come forward with their accounts, ultimately leading to his convictions and imprisonment.

A very interesting film about the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the start of the #metoo movement. The lead performances by Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan were great. The film had a solid script that kept me actively engaged. I think it did a great job tackling how difficult this situation was for so many women that were victims of this man. The dialogue really highlighted that. I liked the music a lot in this movie too. The directing was basic but still got the job done. Some of the editing choices were a little weird but some of them were very cool. Overall a solid movie about an interesting and important story that changed the Hollywood industry and the world in general.

I am shocked this film wasn't nominated for any Academy awards. This was such a brilliantly well made movie. First of all the acting is fantastic. Both Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan were both realistic in there acting and it worked perfectly. The writing and directing was done very well. The entire film seemed to be handled with such care and it highly shows. The film is disturbing and well acted and talks about some very important topics that are needed to be talked about. Overall, this was just a great film. I don't think there is anything wrong with this film and it's a highly recommended film in my opinion.

Set in 2017, investigative reporters Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) investigate allegations of sexual abuse and toxic workplace environments against high profile Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein as the two talk to reluctant witnesses and survivors and navigate a deluge of NDAs uncovering a widespread systemic abuse of power.

She Said is an adaptation of the 2019 non-fiction book of the same name by writers Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey which itself covered their investigative reporting surrounding Harvey Weinstein's history of abuse and sexual misconduct against women in addition to creating a toxic workplace. The movie is an ambitious project as it covers a very important piece of recent history with these public allegations heralding the MeToo era and there's definitely been positioning for the film as an Oscar contender. She Said is told in a very familiar way, but it does respectfully shine a light on systemic abuse and enabling of that abuse.

If you're familiar with similar films like Tom McCarthy's Spotlight or Steven Spielberg's The Post, then you can expect very much the same approach from She Said as it's a methodical detail oriented piece that largely eschews sensationalisms or emotional manipulation in favor painting a picture of the issue it tackles rather than any particular individual involved while Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan are both good in their roles as Twohey and Kantor and have good chemistry with each other, it's not really their movie as they mainly serve as observers to the stories of others and are collecting them as part of creating the article that will shine a light on Weinstein. The movie does try to give more personal investment for Twohey and Kantor such as a prologue showing the violent sexualized death threats Twohey received after reporting on allegations against Trump in 2016, fending off lewd unsolicited remarks from men while dining out, or scenes with the two interacting with their daughters but it doesn't really offer Kazan or Mulligan any standout moments that elevate either of them above serving as our proxies in the investigation which isn't necessarily a bad thing as it keeps the focus where it should be but does make for a dry sit on occasion.

The movie covers Twohey and Kantor's interactions with many figures in the Weinstein scandal both from the victims and witness against Weinstein as well as those representing Weinstein. The script by playwright Rebecca Lenkiewicz does a solid job of bringing these survivor stories to life and while it doesn't actually show anything instead opting to show empty hotel hallways and rooms to add ambiance it makes it no less impactful especially when you have Ashley Judd playing herself relaying her story of abuse at the hands of Weinstein. Maria Schrader does a good job of keeping the film moving at a brisk pace and it never feels like it drags and all the actors give solid performances for the material.

She Said is well made prestige filmmaking and treats a fresh and relevant topic respectfully and tastefully without diving into exploitation. The movie makes a strong point about the prevalence of abuse by those in power and how it's not simply contained to Weinstein himself with the movie wisely keeping Weinstein mostly in the background or as a voice on the phone. If you enjoy true story films of this ilk such as Spotlight or The Post this is definitely one you should check out.

When the Weinstein story first broke out, I was absolutely seething for days. And watching this movie brought all those feelings back again.

I can't imagine what it must have been like for these women to deal with a monster like that, let alone be preyed upon and assaulted by him.

The film is a feminist version of All The President's Men mixed with Spotlight, in which a group of journalists work tirelessly and passionately to research and write a story that will ultimately change the world.

Although there is no character development, there are good performances all around, especially from Carey Mulligan and Jennifer Ehle.

To think that this was going on for literally decades and up until recently is just insane.

Brilliant, powerful film.