Hulu Documentary Recommendation: Untouchable (2019)

Have you ever wondered about the actual power Harvey Weinstein possessed and why the actors and actresses chosen for his movies won Oscars time and time again in the 1990s and early 2000s?  It’s because he knew a great story when he saw one and had the guts to take risks.  It’s because he knew how to wine and dine those associated with the Academy, which led to crucial votes for his movies.  It’s because he had his hand in every inch of Hollywood.  How many times have you heard of a particular movie that saved or bankrupted a studio?  Not that Miramax and the Weinstein Company needed rescuing unless you’re talking about their bad year of 2017 and the really bad year of 2018 when the brothers filed for bankruptcy.  To make matters worse, Harvey Weinstein was kicked out of the Academy in 2017 too.  Untouchable points to the weaknesses and insecurities of Harvey Weinstein as a child and yet he grew into a man who used tactics to get what he desired and did anything to make his movies tantamount to gold.  He was the “IT” man who could make things happen.  He could also make things bad for you.  The negative result of his fame, fortune, and status without boundaries is where the tender meat of the documentary is found.  It is found in those people who challenged him after all the liquor had been drunk, the drugs had been swallowed and snorted, and the paparazzi had moved onto someone else.  It is found in the women that had something to say after many years of silence.   For all his generosity that appeared genuine, he wanted something in return later.  As his power grew and no one bothered to intervene, his  personal need to dominate others increased.  As Brad Pitt recently spoke about when he confronted Harvey Weinstein for making a pass at Gwyneth Paltrow in her early days as an actress, Pitt made it to clear to him that nothing else was going to happen between them.  But not every actress has a caring partner in the movie business as Gwyneth did and even if she did, Harvey Weinstein knew what it took to gain the upper hand.  As he said himself at one point during his life, he was the “sheriff of this shit-ass fucking town.”  I’m sure he was worth his weight in gold back then, but after his second wife divorced him in 2017, after he was arrested in 2018, and now waiting for his trial in 2020, he can’t feel too powerful anymore.  He had a lasting impact on the movie industry,  but whether it is viewed as more positive or negative thirty years from now remains to be determined.  If this documentary highlights anything, it is the following: Hollywood cycles where nothing lasts forever, but certain memories do and it is those people they belong to that have a way of making history.