Bombshell (Review)
Bombshell Might Not Dig as Deep as it should, but it Brings an Important Topic to the Limelight.
I can’t help but laugh that Bombshell hit theaters a day after Donald Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives, because our big orange President actually plays a role in the story behind the film. Not a major one, but enough of one to remind us all what a scumbag he really is. Aside from that humorous observation, Bombshell is an incredibly potent and well-told story about the horrifying harassment that women experience in the workplace. It uses snarky and biting humor that never causes the film to pull any of its punches. If anything, they hit even harder thanks to how humanizing and likable it makes its characters (no easy task given that they work for FOX News). It’s a brilliant film and one that I would say is a must-see movie.
Based on the true story of women coming forward to accuse notable disgusting excuse of a “human” Roger Ailes (played impeccably by John Lithgow), Bombshell follows the story of three women struggling to deal with the sexual harassment they’ve experienced. It’s core character is Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron) who finds herself stuck between a rock and a hard place as fellow anchor Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) sues Ailes for sexual harassment after he unjustly fires her. Kelly has also experienced harassment but expects the fall out from coming forward to not only affect her and her family but also her co-workers. At the same time, bright-eyed, naive, and brainwashed newcomer Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie) experiences the harassment first hand as she’s forced to show Ailes just how “loyal” she is to him in exchange for getting a chance to go on air.
It’s hardly a spoiler to tell you that Ailes was indeed let go at Fox in the wake of the investigation into his sexual misconduct (along with Bill O’Reilly). So, just know that Bombshell is very much based in fact when it comes to the despicable workplace practices that went on at FOX. It reveals the fact that society still tends not to believe the victims when they come forward, and many women face not only their lives being ruined from the trauma they experience, but also have their careers destroyed when they speak up. Of course, it’s important to note that FOX is a very toxic working environment and Bombshell shows that early on with a lecture from Kate McKinnon (who is amazing in the film), “adopt the mentality of an Irish street cop: people are lazy morons, minorities are criminals, and sex is sick but interesting…and that’s a Fox story.” That should tell you pretty much everything you need to know about the world in which this film takes place.
The three stars of Bombshell turn in astounding performances. Theron does one hell of a Kelly impression and manages to humanize her a great deal. I don’t like Kelly mostly because of how she tends to toe the line of conservative commentary at FOX, but her performance made the character into a ship smart, snarky, and likable person, especially with her voice-overs providing insight into the people and environment at the company. She’s joined by Robbie, who is experiencing a meteoric rise thanks to her incredible talent (she received a Best Actress nomination in 2018 for I, Tonya). Her portrayal as one of the brainwashed idiots who grew up blindly loyal to FOX makes her trauma at the hands of Ailes all the more gut-wrenching, as it is the catalyst that makes her question everything she ever believed in. They’re led by Kidman as the “old warhorse” of an anchor who charges into battle to see justice done for the sake of all women who have suffered over the years. The women walk a delicate line as they make it clear that even though they are victims, they are still strong and refuse to let these horrible incidents define them. I will be very disappointed if none of these women receive at least a nomination for their incredible work
Director Jay Roach approaches the script written by Charles Randolph with a keen sense of humor. This seems crucial given the gut-wrenching subject matter of the film. It’s hard not to feel disgusted sitting there and watching Ailes regurgitate the typical excuses for his misconduct, especially as Lithgow pours his all into making the character as grotesque as possible with his caricature of the man (at least I hope it’s an exaggeration). This is not a story that is supposed to be easy or fun to watch. However, the humor makes it much easier to stomach while still making it clear how despicable and unacceptable it is. In a lot of ways, it’s reminiscent of 2018’s Vice in the way it depicts terrible things with humor to keep us from completely losing our faith in humanity. More important, it doesn’t back away from how difficult it is for women to come forward and how scarring these events are for them. Robbie addresses this in a fact that even after “winning” they’re always left wondering what they did wrong to bring this on themselves. It’s a reminder that society still prefers to blame women for the abuse they experience rather than tell men what monsters they are for their inexcusable actions.
I was definitely looking forward to Bombshell simply because of the impressive cast. However, it managed to blow away all expectations I had for it. It’s a timely and poignant film with impressive social commentary that is gracefully incorporated into its storytelling which allows it to both consciously and subconsciously resonate with the viewer. It’s a movie that will probably get roasted by small-minded Trump lackeys, but that probably speaks to how threatening it is for them. There have been few movies this year as effective at giving social issues the attention they deserve. Not only do I recommend it, but I honestly can’t wait to see it again.
