REVIEW:
Here’s the story of the Harvey Weinstein takedown that shocked the world. This is what got the Me Too movement started. It’s a terrific story filled with horrifying revelations. But as a movie, it’s only okay. Kind of like Spotlight, from a few years back, the movie is about the reporters more than anyone else. More than it is about the victims or the villain. Of course the title refers to the victims, and the villain is the subject of the film. Yet we never really see him, and only on a few rare occasions briefly hear his voice. And that’s the problem with these kinds of movies. You have the reporters playing detective, which is kind of cool, but then you have a villain who isn’t really seen, despite him being the focus of everyone’s attention. The best thing about this movie is all of the celebrities it uses to tell their real stories. Rose McGowan (she’s not in the movie, but her story certainly is.) Ashley Judd (in the movie.) Gwyneth Paltrow (voicing herself on the phone here.) The worst thing is how this movie is mainly just conversation after conversation. It’s extremely wordy. And that would be fine if something new was coming out that we didn’t already know, but let’s be honest… we know this story. And when the first allegation the movie offers early into the film, is the biggest one (Rose McGowan claiming she was raped by Weinstein,) they aren’t exactly leaving a whole lot to build up to. The story becomes about two things… can they get a woman to go on the record, and can we actually get to see Harvey. They do build to answers of these two questions, but it’s a very slow build. This movie might have been helped along by flashbacks and reenactments of what Harvey did. They say “show don’t tell.” This movie never shows us anything, but simply tells us the stories. The most we ever see if people sitting around, talking about the stories. It’s still an interesting film, but could have been way more compelling.