I kind of understand why "She Said" is flopping right now. On the one hand, the marketing campaign was really bad; on the other hand, the Weinstein scandal and the whole MeToo issue is perhaps still too fresh to make it into a movie. The "New York Times" article we're talking about here was so present a few years ago that it wasn't really necessary to rehash it right now.
But none of this changes the fact that "She Said" is a fantastic film. Director Maria Schrader calmly tells the story of the entire investigation. The sexual assaults are described in great detail, which is really disturbing. The effects of this system on the victims are very well conveyed. Schrader largely avoids over-the-top Hollywood moments. The story works as a journalistic thriller as it is.
The film is carried by the leads, Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan. Mulligan in particular is once again fantastic, but Kazan is also good. Especially the moment when the first victim is ready to speak out publicly is great cinema.
I don't have much to complain about. Of course, the boring moments of the investigation are skipped, which perhaps dulls the realism a bit. But that also ensures that the film is exciting throughout. And above all, the victims are placed in the spotlight. That is the only acceptable way to tell this story. It's a shame that only a few people will see it in theaters.
It's difficult to judge a film of this magnitude, even from a cinematic perspective. It tells a heart-wrenching story. Twohey and Kantor compelled us to take a small step in the right direction, and its importance cannot be overstated.
Cinema as entertainment. Cinema as denunciation. Cinema as historical memory.
Eight years ago, Spotlight presented the drama of a group of journalists who, despite the difficulties, published an article that shocked the world: The Church allowed abuse by priests for years (2002). After uncovering the sewer, thousands of stories around the world came to light.
Now we have "She said", a film that presents the drama of a couple of journalists who, despite the difficulties, published an article that shook the world: Harvey Weinstein paid off sexual harassment accusers for decades (2017). After uncovering that other sewer, not only did dozens of stories come to light, but an expansive movement was created: #MeToo.
I don't know how Carey Mulligan manages to be such a good actress; a single look, a scene with no change in her gestures, can be so powerful. Not only was the casting of Carey as Megan Twohey terrific, but Zoe Kazan in her portrayal of Jodi Kantor is wonderful as well. Both support the film without problem as the protagonists of this story. Rebecca Lenkiewicz's script is completely on point, entertaining and moving. Nicholas Britell's music seemed ideal to me, as it highlights the scenes of tension, breakdown, and frustration. Natasha Braier's photography provides frames that without the need for dialogue convey a lot. All taken care of by a good direction by Maria Schrader.
There are very valuable messages presented in the dialogues that are necessary in society. So it is a film that is well worth watching, and keeping in mind as an example of cinema as historical memory. There are many horrible stories to tell, many sewers to uncover, many investigations worthy of applause, many articles that change the course of society. "She Said" is proof of that.
Great movie and a great score. I did not see the time going, I was glued to the screen.
Lately it seems that it is mandatory for films to be 2 hours or longer, regardless of whether they have a story to do so, which makes them boring when they shouldn't be. She Said is actually too long for what it's supposed to be, but somehow never boring.
There is always a constant movement and evolution to the story, we care about the characters, even those whose voices were always on the other side of the call. We find ourselves rooting for everything to be revealed, even though we know it was.
The film is based on true events, so for a reportage thriller, the slow action is not a problem. And although the topic is important, the question remains in the back of our minds who made the most money from this film and the drama it tells. ;>
Good performances. Tough watch, but necessary. Mulligan and Kazan were great.
7.3. I'm hearing many compare it to a tepid Spotlight, and I agree it's not on that level but still thought the execution of this story was better than most.
A strong movie that brings us closer to Weinstein's downfall.
What an impeccable piece of journalistic work - how envious of so much express journalism! Even in the face of fast academic work.
Packs an undeniable emotional wallop due to the nature of the story itself, but the film was a by-the-numbers retelling of the story with very little to recommend it from a cinematic perspective. Conversation here, conversation there, etc. that amounted to feeling like the actors were walking around reading the book so that the viewer would know what was happening. That said, both Braugher and Clarkson had excellent supporting performances showing the editorial decisions at play.
I'm 2-for-2 in liking awards-season movies that've seen their awards prospects go up in a puff of smoke, barely made money at the box office, and got a lukewarm shrug from filmheads (along with Armageddon Time).
Can't stand most movies/shows that have journalists as characters: it's either Very Noble Very Brave Borderline Infallible people uncovering some horrible covered-up crime and the music swells when the story's published and they're treated no less as some superhero without much personality other than Tenacious Benevolent Protagonist or dig-through-your-garbage shove-recorders-in-the-face-of-victims swarming-like-locusts-type characters who skulk in the dark and will do anything to get a scoop. The actual humdrum work of journalism is often sidelined in favor of just overemphasizing the heroics/rattiness of the journalist character (exception: the superb Australian drama The Newsreader which combined interesting characters and pound-the-pavement work of 1980s TV reporters in a very watchable package). Didn't know what to expect going into She Said, was afraid it'd fall into the Journalists-as-Heroes genre or hit the points of the #MeToo movement too much to treat the expose of Weinstein as The Moment The Patriarchy Ended.
It didn't (for me anyways), and even better it focused a lot on the day-to-day work in getting the story published (with a bit of the requisite 'these journalists have families and personal lives too' scenes but played very naturally and intertwining nicely with their work scenes): Getting leads, interviewing, verifying stories, double-sourcing triple-sourcing information, gingerly initiating conversations with victims who may want nothing to do with them (scenes handled very well by all parties involved), following threads and all the while seeing the scope of Weinstein's crimes grow bigger and bigger. It just focused on the work and I really enjoyed that. (Samantha Morton also pops in for a scene to remind everyone how. damn. good. she. is.) It's definitely not perfect, it has a Big Dramatic Moment that felt very Hollywood & artificial when Zoe's character gets a call about someone going on the record (the music was swelling then, right?), the use of Ashley Judd playing herself but then decidedly not-Gwenyth Paltrow playing Gwenltltyth Paltrow was jarring as hell (why didn't they just shoot the scene without showing Gwynith's actual face?!). But all in all an awards season movie that stands on its own without feeling like a Very Important Issue movie shoehorned into a fall release date for awards.
It's rejection by awards & audiences is understandable, it's almost like the movie came both too soon and too late, too soon as Weinstein is still going through the courts and appeals but too late as a lot of this story has been told (and re-told and re-examined along with reporting about Farrow's investigations) that the average moviegoer can have a "what, again?" reaction when hearing this was being released.
tl;dr I'm just really happy Zoe Kazan got a (co-)lead role in a major studio movie
Boring chronicle of the New York Times coverage of the Hollywood sex scandal that is manipulative (flashbacks showing the youth and innocence of the victims), with a tendency to turn journalists (mothers, wives, professionals...) into heroines. The story distorts the facts, and the absence of Rose McGowan, whose first complaints were silenced by The New York Times itself, is significant, and the film has no problem using audios published by The New Yorker, the newspaper that was competing in the commercial race for publishing the allegations, as if they were part of Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor's investigation.
Slow and repetitive, but probably for such an important theme it was impossible to do otherwise.
Is it me or was Carey Mulligan struggling with the American accent? I felt like she was over enunciating every word. Very distracting. However, despite a somewhat rocky directing this was good movie with great performances and a really likable cast.
They should have started the movie with Bill Clinton. He's the OG #MeToo :rofl:
The film felt like it was going in circles for 2 hours. Not as compelling as Spotlight.
Carey Mulligan on 'ludes . . . Needs do-over.
Shout by Saint PaulyBlockedParent2022-11-24T21:41:19Z
All the presidents women...
This is the film about Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, the two NYT journalists responsible for punching the whole in the dam that created the flood of testimony that would eventually wash up Harvey Weinstein and drown him in the tidal wave of evidence that drifted him to prison for 23 years.
A taut investigative story, I didn't see the time go by, probably because of how invested I was in the story. And I wasn't alone: the Paris theater where I saw She Said broke out into applause at the end of the film (and if you know anything about the infamous stoicism of Parisian audiences, you understood how big a deal that is).
There may have been a couple of scenes that were overly dramatic, whereas this story brings its own drama and doesn't need any boosts, but overall, the focus on the facts, processes, and skill of the reporters was a fitting tribute the story that changed the world and the women who inhabit it.