Movie Reaction: She Said

Formula: The Assistant + Spotlight

 

I'm a huge fan of any movie about people doing their damn jobs and doing them well. Journalism movies are among the best of this type of movie. That's because there are stakes, many parts to the process, and public effects. It doesn't have to be life or death, but it can still have urgency. I love seeing how people track leads and slowly uncover a story. Later, there's the strategic element where things like journalistic integrity butt heads with getting a story out first.

 

She Said has all these things, and for that, I enjoyed it. Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan play the New York Times reporters who finally broke the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault story. And it hits all the beats of a good journalism movie that I just listed above. Kazan and Mulligan are particularly great. I like how they play off each other in the expected ways - Kazan is less abrasive, Mulligan is more of a hardass - but that doesn't affect either's effectiveness. They are both great at what they do.

 

So, why doesn't She Said work for me as much as it should? That question has bothered me for a while. The reasons all tie into each other. For one, it is far too soon for this movie. I'm pretty sure Weinstein still has court dates for this stuff. There are movies that come out quickly though and are still great. All The President's Men came out fast. Because it is so recent and so many people involved in the actual investigation are well known, She Said has to use a series of impersonators, phone calls, and obscured angles to play characters. It's cool that they got Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow for some phone and zoom calls, but it highlights they fact that that couldn't get them in a room. Trump is played via phone call by the guy who impersonates him on SNL. They get someone to play Harvey Weinstein, yet he's only used for phone calls or long shots. A lot of understandable limitations end up feeling like half measures.

 

The biggest thing that hurt the movie for me though, if I'm really being honest, is that it doesn't answer the part of the story I'd like to know. When the Weinstein story broke, at the time, I was confused. It felt like the Cosby story. I thought we all knew this about Weinstein already. There are 30 Rock jokes about it. It's not like it was a well-kept secret. The Times story just confirmed what I'd always assumed. I don't think She Said does a good enough job explaining why this is the time the story took hold and got people to pay attention. I think back to Spotlight. That movie reckons with how overdue the story was and the failings by everyone that made it take so long to come out. She Said mostly just says Harvey crushed previous attempts, but it doesn't get deep enough into why that worked. Perhaps that would've been too much of a Hollywood insider story though. Which is the final strike against it really. Who is the target audience for this movie? For those not in the business, I don't think it explains why Weinstein was such a big fish. For those familiar with or in the business, it doesn't get deep enough into the industry mechanics at play.

 

In the end, I wish I could take everything about She Said and make it about a different investigation. Kazan, Mulligan, and the rest of the cast are great. The actual beats of the story are well written. But it's a story that just can't be told best in 2022.

 

Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend