Review of Bombshell (2019) by Rebecca31 — 19 Jan 2020

A highly topical film with a stand out cast, the three central performances by Theron, Kidman and Robbie are reason enough to see Bombshell.

Bombshell is heavily based on a real scandal against Fox News head Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) and the toxic atmosphere he presided over at the network. It follows three women working at Fox News, Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron), Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) and Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie). As with all "based on true events" movies one has to be aware that certain creative liberties will always be at play. Yes the main plot details will hopefully be accurate but everything around that is up for debate. It's best not to dwell on that as it may hinder your enjoyment of the film itself. In one way you will be entertained watching Bombshell with its snappy dialogue, hoping to get a few laughs from you. But keep in the mind the subject matter. It flips from one end of the spectrum to the other very quickly and there are a couple of scenes that are shocking and very uncomfortable to watch. John Lithgow is absolutely vile as Roger Ailes. I do mean that as a compliment, his performance is so convincing it will make your skin crawl. Lithgow and Theron's transformation into their characters is very impressive and credit has to be given to the prosthetic makeup designer, Kazu Hiro. There are a lot of good contenders among the Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar nominees this year but Bombshell deserves to win.

Bombshell does highlight the toxic environment of the news network and you'll feel two very strong emotions when watching it. Empathy towards the women, which is only enhanced by the superb acting from the cast and anger towards the harmful work environment and severe lack of repercussions to these high up sexual predators abusing their positions of power. Although I can't fault the acting from anyone I'm not sure Bombshell is making the grand statement it thinks it's making. It doesn't shy away from the allegations against Ailes but other than that it doesn't really deal with the issues it has raised. Has anything really changed? I didn't have a high opinion of Fox News and Bombshell doesn't do a whole lot to change that. It also feels like it's trying to empower women yet it doesn't exactly achieve that either. It's an appropriate film and suitable for today's climate, I only wish it had tried to be less like a comedy and delve deeper into the subject matter. Regardless it's still worth your time and recommended.