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Films

She Said

5 replies

xsquared · 25/11/2022 23:33

I watched this on my own in Everyman Cinema today as I fancied treating myself on a day off.

If you haven't heard of it, it's a dramatisation of the book by reporters, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twoley, who investigated the abuse by Harvey Weinstein leading to the #metoo movement.

I found myself teary at some points of the film, but ultimately, it ended on a victory.

OP posts:
sashagabadon · 26/11/2022 18:23

I watched it today too. I thought it was great. Acting good and story compelling. Some of the characters playing themselves. I did wonder about the continual references to gwyneth Paltrow. What were they trying to insinuate? That she was a victim of Weinstein too? I saw at end that Brad Pitt was a producer and they were girlfriend boyfriend when she won her Oscar so thought that was a strange coincidence. Presumably she gave the nod to include her name so much. She must have been mentioned about 10 times 🤔

Sturmundcalm · 26/11/2022 18:57

Haven't seen the film yet but Gwyneth made an allegation against Harvey Weinstein and was part of that initial report I think, and he apparently used her name as part of trying to abuse other women ("look what i did for her career").

SirSidneyRuffDiamond · 29/11/2022 06:41

I have a vague memory of reading that Brad Pitt threatened Harvey Weinstein after Weinstein made a sexual approach to Gwyneth.

NewspaperTaxis · 13/12/2022 23:53

I saw this film today in a chilly near empty cinema, it hasn't done much box office in the States I hear. Disclosure: I'm a bloke - I don't usually announce this save on gender-based threads but in a way this is. I very much enjoyed Ronan Farrow's Catch and Kill book, an account of his investigation into Weinstein - it reads like a thriller and I felt reading it, I can't wait til this becomes a movie! (The title refers to successful attempts by Weinstein and his ilk to contain a harmful press story and 'kill' it.)

However, this is based on another book as the OP says and while I haven't read that, this film seemed dramatically inert, poorly directed and the script was very prosaic. I felt it would have made a good documentary but there there was nothing cinematic about it really. It consists of the two journalists trying to talk to women who'd been abused - they'd often just refuse to talk or go on the record or they'd tell what had happened but it broke the rule of 'show don't tell'. Some stuff didn't go anywhere - Rose McGowan is a very angry woman about what occurred and rightly so, but she briefly appears on the phone then not at all. Those protecting Weinstein don't seem very vivid or horrible to stoke the dramatic flames. There's a Lisa Bloom character who seems relevant as one of Harvey's helpers but I'm not sure of her back story. In contrast, Farrow's account has a true 'No! Shut Up!' revelation about Rose McGowan that I daren't reveal for fear of spoilers, the reporter later finds himself spied on by the Israeli intelligence agencies at Weinstein's request but that's not the half of it either.

She Said talks about how the reporters can expect everyone to be tapping their phones but no evidence or dramatic interest is drawn from this. It was almost certainly true - anyway, all they have to do if you haven't changed the PIN number on your mobile is tap in the factory numbers. Farrow does stuff about this in his book... in one scene a young dude in the crowded street bumps into one of the reporters and I thought, a-ha! Bet he's dropped a bug in her bag! Or some coke to incriminate her with the cops! But no, it was nothing, he'd just nudged her.

We see plenty of shots of the women's husbands being quiet and supportive, holding the baby, they seem nice enough blokes but drips really. I sort of hate saying that, but there might have been an opportunity for a bit of humour or something. Tbf, Farrow's fella seemed a bit sidelined in his account too, but it did touch on the strains that this kind of investigation places on relationships.

Early on it's suggested the abuse of women is widespread across not just politics, Hollywood, everything but it's not much followed up despite references to Trump and maybe Clinton. I can well believe it, what with Epstein island etc Over here we have grooming gangs endorsed by local authorities and the police, we have the Met SpyCops scandal that beggars belief.

I wasn't crazy about this film but thoroughly recommend Catch and Kill.

Mummieslncorporated · 27/12/2022 06:00

I found it quite disappointing.

If you compare it to a film like Spotlight, and a show like Unbelievable, it really falls a bit flat. I think that it was rushed. They wanted to be the first to get the film out about Weinstein, so they didn't spend the time needed to get a great film.

In Spotlight and Unbelievable there is tension and drama, and there are moments where you don't know what's coming next - despite the fact that Spotlight is based on a true story. There was no drama and tension in She Said. There were certainly opportunities for it, but they just didn't capitalise on it.

A film with such an important message should have been better. Honestly, even if it was a documentary, it needed to be better.

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