She Said

We started the month with Germany's entry for this year's International Feature Oscar race. We end it with the follow-up from the director of Germany's entry for last year's International Feature Oscar race. That director is Maria Schrader, her last film was I'm Your Man and this film is She Said. What can I say about it?

Rebecca Lenkiewicz's screenplay adapts New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor's book about their investigation (with Rebecca Corbett) into Hollywood bigwig Harvey Weinstein's sexual misconduct. The three of them are respectively played by Carey Mulligan, Zoey Kazan and Patricia Clarkson. The three of them get on the case when they get a tip into Weinstein's abuse of actress Rose McGowan (only heard on the phone voiced by Katie McQuail). They work their way down from Ashley Judd (as herself) and Gwyneth Paltrow (never seen) to several of Weinstein's lower-level employees. They find it imperative to publish it before Weinstein lawyers up.

The victims and witnesses make it compelling. We open up with one woman, Laura Madden, helping with a film shoot in Ireland. One cut later, she's running and sobbing down Dublin. "What happened?" lingers in our thoughts. An older Madden (Jennifer Ehle) answers that with vivid detail. Employee Zelda Perkins (Samantha Morton) earns the audience's respect for confronting Weinstein during a board meeting over his abuse of co-worker Rowena Chiu (Angela Yeoh). An ex-employee is more than willing to talk, but can't due to legal reasons, while another closes the door on Twohey and Kantor. Their traumatic pasts are palpable. John Mazurek and Zach Grenier are good as John Schmidt and Irwin Reiter, the CFO and ex-vice president of Miramax, whose testimonies help crack the case.

Mulligan and Kazan are good as Twohey and Kantor. Their friendship is nice, while their journalistic determination is admirable. They get some much-needed levity with their families (Adam Shapiro is funny as Kantor's husband, Ron Lieber). We never stop rooting for them as they unravel Weinstein's abuse. Clarkson and Andre Braugher (as executive editor, Dean Baquet) are great supporting players. Baquet's refusal to let Weinstein intimidate him also earns him the audience's respect. Their best moment is their joy when their main article is finally ready for print. 

The real Weinstein is heard in disturbing detail in a recording of one of his misdeeds. When he's heard on the phone, and seen from behind in-person, he's played by Mike Houston. What we hear about him perfectly sets him up as a Hollywood boogeyman. A nameless guy at a bar and another on the phone perfectly establish themselves as loathsome individuals with one scene each. Peter Friedman is much more cordial as Weinstein's main lawyer, Lanny Davis. Overall, there's a good cast at work here.

Add an unforgettable score by Nicholas Britell and you have a strong journalistic drama. She Said is a compelling portrayal of recent history. You'll be hooked whether you've followed up on the real-life coverage or not. You should hurry up and see it if you want to. It might not last much longer with these box-office figures. That's a shame because it's still a winner.