She Said follows two New York Times reporters, Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan), as they interview and gather sources in order to break the story surrounding the abuse perpetrated by a creepy, high-powered producer in the entertainment industry. As these two reporters dig deeper into the allegations, the story expands more than they could possibly imagine.
I’m not going to use the producer’s name because he’s a creep, and I won’t give the dude the courtesy.
This film seriously dragged; not all films need more than two hours to tell a story. There were so many unnecessary scenes, like the excessive scenes covering Twohey and Kantor’s personal lives and excessive walking while talking on the phone. Yes, these phone calls happened in real life, but it is super boring to watch people talk on the phone, regardless of their acting ability. Had some of these scenes been edited out, it would have been a much tighter film.
I think that had this film been released a few years ago, it would have drawn a larger audience. But this story is stale now and could be considered kind of a cash-in. Also, I couldn’t help but compare it to other, far superior films that either had to do with workplace abuse, like Bombshell (2019) and The Assistant (2019), or newsroom films, like The Post (2017). Judging by the release date choice, the studio clearly wants this film up for consideration during awards season. I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not.
I did like a few things about the film, mostly that some of the stories featured were from the assistants and non-famous actresses. I feel like the experience of the assistants that worked under that creep are just as important, if not more so, than actresses because they rarely have a voice. The use of Ashley Judd was also something I appreciated. Sometimes, films like these don’t have the endorsement of the people that are featured in the stories so it was a wise decision to have Judd appear, even if only for a few minutes.
Originally, I was going to see this film the weekend it was released, but in the end, I decided against it because I didn’t feel like it. However, when I saw that creep mocking the fact that this film bombed, I saw it. Sure, I had a free ticket and wanted some Alamo Drafthouse chicken tenders, but I still technically contributed to the box office numbers.
As I write this review, I have the poster for the film on my other screen, with the critic quotes: “One of the Best Films of the Year”, “Tense, Gripping & Powerful”, et cetera. I am not sure I agree with any of these thoughts. It is definitely not one of the best films, nor does this film build any tension whatsoever. Overall, the story is important, and there are meaningful scenes. However, it was not concise enough and had a bloated runtime that featured boring and unnecessary side plots.
7.4
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I’m a Data Analyst, from the land of Matthew McConaughey. I’m an avid movie-goer and love seeing films in theaters. My most recent favorite films are Good Time, Only Lovers Left Alive, TENET, and England is Mine. When I’m not at the movies, I’m either reading or watching obscene amount of true crime and historical documentaries.
