I remember seeing a trailer for She Said shortly before it released, but basically nothing else. I saw one review from Mark Kermode, which generally praised the film but pointed out how a film like this was probably never going to work the way it should.
I pretty much forgot all about it until I was scrolling through Sky Cinema the other day and came across it. In the mood for a good drama, I took a dive into the world of #MeToo and the Weinstein scandal.
Following a series of articles investigating sexual misconduct in the workplace, the New York Times in 2017 receive a tip-off from actress Rose McGowan (Kerry McQuail) that she was sexually assaulted by a major movie producer. Investigative journalists Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) and Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) take on the case to dig deeper and find out who this producer is, and how widespread the sexual assault claims might go. When they uncover the producer to be Harvey Weinstein (Mike Houston) of Miramax, they kick a hornet’s nest that reveals a network of victims dating all the way back to the 1990’s Struggling to get anyone to go on the record, they realise they need to get everyone to take the jump together if they have any hope of getting the story published.
I pretty much forgot all about it until I was scrolling through Sky Cinema the other day and came across it. In the mood for a good drama, I took a dive into the world of #MeToo and the Weinstein scandal.
Following a series of articles investigating sexual misconduct in the workplace, the New York Times in 2017 receive a tip-off from actress Rose McGowan (Kerry McQuail) that she was sexually assaulted by a major movie producer. Investigative journalists Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) and Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) take on the case to dig deeper and find out who this producer is, and how widespread the sexual assault claims might go. When they uncover the producer to be Harvey Weinstein (Mike Houston) of Miramax, they kick a hornet’s nest that reveals a network of victims dating all the way back to the 1990’s Struggling to get anyone to go on the record, they realise they need to get everyone to take the jump together if they have any hope of getting the story published.
Echoing the sentiments of Kermode, it’s easy to see why She Said was such a blip and a box office bomb, but crucially it is a film that needs to exist, regardless about the quality of it. Why would any studio want to finance a film about the catalyst behind the #MeToo movement? They’d be throwing their own under the bus, because as we know now this web of abusers is all over Hollywood, and they control everything. So, it’s no surprise that the film had almost no marketing, and a very limited release window. It only made back just shy of $14 million on a $32 million budget, a huge loss for Annapurna, Plan B, and Universal.
Arguably it’s a little too soon for a film like this to happen. It’s missed that initial peak of media buzz surrounding #MeToo, but it’s not soon enough after for it to be able to do as thorough a deep dive as one would hope. It therefore does feel like it’s tiptoeing around the issue a bit at times. But the existence of it is certainly something to be celebrated, even if the quality is a bit mixed.
So, what works? Mulligan and Kazan deliver excellent performances, as does Andre Braugher as Dean Baquet, editor of the NYT. These three really drive the story and give you as the viewer something to latch onto, because as I found with Steven Speilberg’s journalistic exploration in 2017’s The Post, journalism is rarely as exciting as journalists think it is. In fact the only film about journalism I ever really found myself enjoying was Matthew Heineman’s A Private War in 2018, but that was less about the journalism and more about Marie Colvin as a person.
Regardless, whilst these three performances do try to give She Said some drive, I did tend to find it a bit dull from time to time. It felt like it could have been a bit tighter, perhaps even upped the drama slightly.
Arguably it’s a little too soon for a film like this to happen. It’s missed that initial peak of media buzz surrounding #MeToo, but it’s not soon enough after for it to be able to do as thorough a deep dive as one would hope. It therefore does feel like it’s tiptoeing around the issue a bit at times. But the existence of it is certainly something to be celebrated, even if the quality is a bit mixed.
So, what works? Mulligan and Kazan deliver excellent performances, as does Andre Braugher as Dean Baquet, editor of the NYT. These three really drive the story and give you as the viewer something to latch onto, because as I found with Steven Speilberg’s journalistic exploration in 2017’s The Post, journalism is rarely as exciting as journalists think it is. In fact the only film about journalism I ever really found myself enjoying was Matthew Heineman’s A Private War in 2018, but that was less about the journalism and more about Marie Colvin as a person.
Regardless, whilst these three performances do try to give She Said some drive, I did tend to find it a bit dull from time to time. It felt like it could have been a bit tighter, perhaps even upped the drama slightly.
It felt very sterile to look at too. Natasha Braier’s cinematography often feels perfunctory rather than artistic, and the score feels like it’s just been taken from any generic courtroom drama, so none of it really sticks with you or adds much to the scene. I think this is where She Said really lets itself down, because whilst the story might sag in places, it is at least telling a true story so the presentation should have done the heavy lifting to make it feel more engaging for the sequences that are a bit dull to watch but kind of need to be there.
I did like the way that director Maria Schrader built tension in the last act as we headed towards the arrival of Weinstein at the NYT offices. The meetings that take place towards the end of the film were really engaging thanks to an excellent script and the fast pace. But it was a shame that this was absent during a few of the films slower moments where the script seemed to wobble a little bit, as though it was simply buying time.
It's good, but it’s not great. I would say it’s worth seeking out though as it does do a great job of delving into the early days of the Weinstein scandal, and as we have all seen what has become of it, it’s a really important part of modern Hollywood. She Said might not be as exciting as the story itself is, but it’s an important story to tell and it’s supported by two brilliant leads. If you can watch it you should, because even though the film had an understandably tough time at the box office, we have a duty to make its voice heard.
I did like the way that director Maria Schrader built tension in the last act as we headed towards the arrival of Weinstein at the NYT offices. The meetings that take place towards the end of the film were really engaging thanks to an excellent script and the fast pace. But it was a shame that this was absent during a few of the films slower moments where the script seemed to wobble a little bit, as though it was simply buying time.
It's good, but it’s not great. I would say it’s worth seeking out though as it does do a great job of delving into the early days of the Weinstein scandal, and as we have all seen what has become of it, it’s a really important part of modern Hollywood. She Said might not be as exciting as the story itself is, but it’s an important story to tell and it’s supported by two brilliant leads. If you can watch it you should, because even though the film had an understandably tough time at the box office, we have a duty to make its voice heard.