All the precedents, man. Coercive control to blatant anatomical assault, this is the reputation that precedes the person making another run at the office of the President of the United States.
He’s named and shamed at the beginning of SHE SAID, and then the American voters, to their shame, ushered him into the White House.
In 2016, journalist Megan Twohey’s reporting gave voice to the women who accused Donald J. Trump of groping and other sexual misconduct. A year later, with Jodi Kantor, she broke a page-one story that shook the entertainment industry and reverberated throughout the country: “Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades.”
SHE SAID is the lest we forget story of that investigation and the lest we forget story of predatory men in power preying on women, practicing coercive control over personal and professional aspects of their lives.
The film is led by Carey Mulligan as Twohey and Zoe Kazan as Kantor, but is fabulously buoyed by a sensational supporting cast.
Samantha Morton is superb in a steely scene stealing turn as Zelda Perkins, one of the eye witness whistle blowers on Weinstein’s behaviour. Equally dazzling is Jennifer Ehles as former Miramax employee, Laura Madden, and Patricia Clarkson as the New York Times assistant managing editor, Rebecca Corbett.
Male actors who rise to the top are Andre Braugher as the take no bullshit New York Times editor, Dean Baquet, and Zach Grenier as Miramax accountant, Irwin Reiter, who appropriately appears in the movie’s money shot, an evocation of an Edward Hopper painting.
Written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, directed by Maria Schrader and photographed by Natasha Baier, with a haunting score by Nicholas Britell, SHE SAID is a sturdy, worthy picture, ironically the kind of Oscar click bait that Weinstein would probably produce from his ghastly casting couch. Ouch!
