Though the “#MeToo” movement to expose sexual abuse in Hollywood and among other powerful men didn’t originate in 2017, it reached the masses that year. The catalyst stemmed from revelations of misdeeds by prominent producer Harvey Weinstein, and the investigation that launched this becomes the subject of 2022’s She Said.

New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) hears that Weinstein allegedly raped actor Rose McGowan (voice of Keilly McQuail). When Kantor starts to dig into the issue and hears of other abuses, she finds resistance to participation, as the victims fear retribution.

As the investigation proceeds, it snowballs and Kantor recruits fellow journalist Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) to assist. The pair find themselves in the thick of a burgeoning controversy as they attempt to reveal the truth.

Said badly wants to deliver an All the President’s Men for the 2020s but it just feels turgid and slow. The pacing feels inconsistent and we just don’t find much real drama.

The movie never does much to give the leads actual personalities. In addition, it drops in/out supporting characters almost at random, so the narrative sputters.

At times the film feels more like a lecture about sexual abuse than a story of the investigation and journalism. The tale occasionally grinds to a halt so we can get monologues.

Although this should become a tense, tight tale, it just wanders and meanders with little to stir the blood - beyond the nature of the abuse, that is. Those stories curdle, but the primary plot related to the journalists simply plods when it needs to zing. Perhaps one could argue that the film lacks tension because we know how it ends. Weinstein currently sits in prison - spoiler alert?

I guarantee virtually the entire audience for the film knows what happened, especially because it covers such recent events. This movie doesn’t cover a scandal from the 1950s, for instance - it's only been a little more than five years since the Weinstein story broke.

But All the President's Men came out with even less distance between its release and the events involved, and it came with a more famous/better known ending. Nonetheless, it couldn't possibly be more engrossing and thrilling than it is.

I can't fault a movie about journalism because it falls short of Men. If I did so, every one would pale, as Men remains the masterwork of the genre and almost certainly will never be topped.

But Spotlight showed there's ample room for good movies in the genre. She Said doesn't compete with those and becomes a disjointed disappointment.

My issue with the integration of the stories of abused women doesn’t offer an indication I think those moments lack merit. Instead, they simply feel shoehorned into the film.

At its core, Said provides a story about an investigation. The leads and many of the main supporting characters were journalists.

That's why I find the scenes with the women’s stories to veer away from the movie's purpose. If Said intended to deliver a movie about the victims of abuse, then it would've made one or more of those women the center, not journalists.

But instead, it exists primarily as a story about reporters and their work, and it just doesn’t connect. She Said boasts a compelling story that fails to pack the punch it deserves.

She Said appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This turned into a more than satisfying presentation.

Overall sharpness looked good. Only the slightest hint of softness affected some interiors, and those examples occurred too infrequently to cause problems.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects occurred, and edge haloes were absent. I also failed to detect any source flaws.

In terms of colors, the movie featured a palette that favored a mix of the usual teal and amber. Across the board, the hues looked fine within those parameters.

Blacks were dark and deep, while shadows appeared clear and smooth. I thought the movie consistently looked positive.

I thought that the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of She Said seemed fine but it didn’t excel because of a lack of ambition. Like most character dramas, the movie featured a limited soundfield that favored the forward channels.

It showed nice stereo spread to the music as well as some general ambience from the sides. Panning was fine, and the surrounds usually kicked in basic reinforcement.

Audio quality appeared good. Speech was natural and distinct, with no issues related to edginess or intelligibility.

Effects sounded clean and accurate, with good fidelity and no signs of distortion. Music was perfectly fine, as the score and songs showed positive dimensionality. This track was good enough for a “B-“ but didn’t particularly impress.

A featurette called Breaking the Story runs six minutes, 43 seconds. It brings notes from journalists/authors Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor.

They tell us about their investigation and its adaptation into a movie. Though they produce a handful of insights, “Story” largely remains fluffy and oriented toward promotion for the film.

The disc opens with an ad for Till. We also get the trailer for She Said.

At its core, She Said covers a significant factual story. However, while well-meaning, the end result lacks real drama and tends to meander too much to hit the spot. The Blu-ray brings strong visuals, adequate audio and minor bonus materials. As much as I want to like the film, it simply fails to connect as well as it should.