Now in theaters.
[Rating: Solid Rock Fist Up]
It is crazy to think that the events of what happened with the downfall of Harvey Weinstein, were only five years ago. We have lived through monumental news coverage that ripped away long held secrets in Hollywood so that all the world could finally know the truth. New York Times investigative reports Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey were two journalists who reached out to the women Weinstein had abused through decades and helped to unravel a giant kingdom. She Said (directed by Maria Schrader) details the events of bringing the once powerful Hollywood mogul to the bottom most rung.
In 2017, Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) receives a tip that actress Rose McGowen was assaulted by film producer Harvey Weinstein earlier in her career. This in turn turns into a domino effect when McGowen informs Kantor it wasn’t just her and part of a much larger story. Kantor also interviews Ashley Judd (playing herself in the film) who shares a similar experience. Recruiting Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan), the two women now set off to find more women who were assaulted. Their investigations find that it was not just actresses like Gwenyth Paltrow, but assistants and behind-the-scenes young women who thought working with Weinstein was their ticket to fame. Two such behind-the-scenes assistants Laura Madden (Jennifer Ehle) and Zelda Perkins (Samantha Morton) share with Kantor their heartbreaking stories that still, decades later, they hesitate putting on record.
We know the outcome of the Weinstein scandal. We know the many layers it pulled back on Hollywood to show the extreme abuse that was always there, just hushed upon. In the style of All the President’s Men and more recently Spotlight, She Said pulls back on how an investigation starts and how it took the courage of many to bring down one man. I’m a sucker for a good journalism film and this one works well. It doesn’t go so hard to make you feel bad the entire time in what’s happening. It makes you more compassionate for the women featured, especially Madden and Perkins whose lives were greatly affected by what happens. It also makes you compassionate for the nameless victims who were and are still too afraid to come forward with their own stories, not just in Hollywood but in the everyday world.
Hollywood and the world, for that matter, still acts like a boys club that can get away with anything. As long as there are those who want to be champions for the nameless, important stories then turned into important films can be made.
Christian Ramos is a classic film fan, having had the dream to host Turner Classic Movies for years now. He also has a large amount of Oscar trivia in his head, remembers dressing as Groucho Marx one Halloween, and cherishes the moment Julianne Moore liked his tweet.
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