She Said joins a long line of splendid dramas regarding journalism, current events and social causes — films like Five Star Final (1932), Deadline U. S. A. (1952), All the President’s Men (1976) and Spotlight (2015).  These films matter because they reinforce the importance of accurate investigative journalism, an imperative in our free society.  That they are engrossing and entertaining as well is a wonderful blessing, something to be savored by viewers time and again.  In this case it seems amazing that a riveting drama about disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein could be made and released even while he is actually being tried a second time for his unwanted advances on women, after having been convicted once already.

Maria Schrader’s drama focuses on the two New York Times reporters, Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan), who spend months learning about this secretive subject, investigating leads, interviewing potential victims who are hesitant to speak, slowly building the foundation of a groundbreaking story and then releasing it to the world.  Like All the President’s Men and Spotlight, She Said takes its time to allow many voices to be heard, depicts how difficult the reporting process is for the reporters and, perhaps most importantly, debates the point at which the story can, or should, be released to the public.  Early on the spotlight is on the reporters as they poke around the boundaries of a story that seems too impossible to be true; later the spotlight is on the editorial team (including Patricia Clarkson and Andre Braugher) as they weigh whether they have enough to publish, and how much response to allow Weinstein (who is present in the story but not as a character).  The drama ends with the fateful push of a button, followed by a brief epilogue summarizing what we already know about the fallout.

The verisimilitude of this story is astounding.  Names are named; some people appear as themselves or are heard speaking the words that led reporters onto Weinstein’s trail.  He himself is heard several times, sounding just like the bully one would expect.  If the film has a weakness it would be that there is no surprise how things are going to turn, that Weinstein is portrayed as a monster and that all this is obvious from the start.  The problem with that notion is that while everything looks obvious afterward, the fact is that Harvey Weinstein bullied, assaulted and raped dozens of women over decades before this exposé finally began the process to send him to jail.  He was enabled by the system he created; his own company covered up his devilish behavior, and many women, some of them famous enough to be easily recognizable were victimized, afraid to reveal the assaults because they wanted to keep working.  This movie makes clear how awful these experiences were to these women, how it changed many of them forever, and why it is so important that the truth be revealed.

Also like All the President’s Men and Spotlight, perhaps the two greatest journalism dramas ever, events are not sensationalized.  Hard work, failure, the reticence of witnesses, intimidation, the physical toll of constant pressure, spousal reactions, the need to get it right; all these are present, and more.  That this story broke at all is a tribute to the people at the New York Times, most of them women, who brought it to fruition.  The film crew for She Said is also largely made up of women, including the director and screenwriter; they should be justifiably proud of their effort.  She Said is a great, important film achievement.  ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆.  15 December 2022.