Untouchable Review: The Harvey Weinstein Documentary Is A Good Primer On His Sexual Assault Trial

Untouchable  

Starring Erika Rosenbaum, Ronan Farrow, Ken Auletta

Directed by Ursula Macfarlane

It’s one thing to read about the women who accused Harvey Weinstein of sexually assaulting them over the years, but another to see them revisiting the nightmares in on-camera interviews. Their recollections are easily the most harrowing parts in Untouchable, Ursula Macfarlane’s searing documentary (or is it condemn-tary?) on the Hollywood producer-turned-pariah, who’s currently on trial for said crimes.

The stories paint the portrait of a pathological predator whose wealth and influence let him to get away with impunity. The infuriating part is, the rest of Hollywood was in on it and did jack about it. ( Ricky Gervais joked about this at the recent Golden Globes). New Yorker journo Ken Auletta says, “Agents were guilty of that, as were some studio heads, as were some producers and directors and actors and actresses, and staffers.”

One ex-employee who regrets not standing up to his boss is John Schmidt, one-time chief financial officer at the Weinstein-run Miramax studio. He says, “As I look back I can’t quite reconcile myself to just not up-and-quitting after my friend was sexually abused by him — so I live with that for sure.”

Untouchable makes it difficult to watch movies produced by Weinstein, like Good Will Hunting, Pulp Fiction, and Shakespeare in Love. It’s hard to imagine — and even harder to watch — the movies that have given us so much joy were created in a toxic environment of hurt and harassment.

Elsewhere, the documentary also reaches out to investigative reporters Ronan Farrow, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey whose Weinstein exposés in The New Yorker and The New York Times ushered in the #MeToo era. (For more on how the writers broke the scandal, read Farrow’s Catch and Kill and Kantor and Twohey’s She Said ).

Untouchable is just Part 1 of the Weinsteingate. The documentary may find him guilty, but will the judicial system reach the same conclusion? Check back in eight weeks’ time for Part 2 when the jury returns with the verdict. (4/5 stars)

Untouchable is streaming exclusively on iWonder.

Photo: TPG News/Click Photos