Bombshell, Rated R. 108 minutes
Directed by Jay Roach
Starring Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, John Lithgow, Allison Janney, Malcolm McDowell, Kate McKinnon
Bombshell is supposed to be the story of how Fox News founder and CEO Roger Ailes was taken down for sexual harassment after a lawsuit was filed by fired host Gretchen Carlson (Kidman). It is easy to understand screenwriter Charles Randolph and director Jay Roach are no fans of Ailes or Fox News, which is why they made the film in the first place.
But, there are a few problems with the film. Carlson is the impetus of the movement against Ailes, but is relegated to a few scenes sprinkled throughout the film instead of being its centerpiece. The heavy lifting of carrying the narrative of subjugated female employees forward is left to Theron’s (brilliantly portrayed) Megyn Kelly and Margot Robbie’s (fictional) Kayla Pospisil, an ambitious producer wanna-be who started at Fox working under Carlson, only to be stolen away by Bill O’Reilly, who offered more opportunity for advancement.
In fact, the film opens with Kelly, not Carlson, providing a walking tour of the Fox News building in New York City in a Mockumentary style, fourth-wall-breaking, presentation, a framing device that might have worked well, had it not been abandoned immediately following this introductory sequence.
After that, we are presented with typical newsroom angles, power walks, jargon, and uneven tone about whether or not the filmmakers hate Ailes, Fox News, Donald Trump, or any combination thereof, as the dialogue, at any given moment, either slams or excuses any and all of those parties.
It is this lack of focus which contributes to the film’s downfall. Without a consistent, central protagonist to work off, the audience is left wondering who to root for, if anyone, as the mere suggestion of working for Fox News is enough to seemingly brand one for life, as evidenced by Kate McKinnon’s character, who would love to leave Fox.
After having taken the job there because it was the only one she could get, she claims she couldn’t work anywhere else because of it. Add to that the stigma and abject fear she feels at the possibility of being discovered to be a lesbian (‘working at Fox News”), and it is clear the filmmakers have no sense of proportion in terms of character development here.
Most damning to the film, however, is the question of who, exactly, the audience is for it? It is certainly not for the roughly half the nation who watches Fox News and/or considers themselves Republicans. Nor does it seem to be for the die-hard Fox News/President Trump opponents, as the Trump angle is especially underplayed to be seen as a draw for their movie-going dollars.
What segment of the population is left, then? Supporters of the #MeToo movement? Perhaps, but the lackadaisical, self-preservationist way in which Megyn Kelly goes about “investigating” who might have been subjected to Ailes’ unwelcome behaviors doesn’t feel nearly aggressive enough to satisfy that crowd, either.
The only bright spots in the film are the actual performances, from Lithgow’s lecherous Ailes to Robbie’s earnest, doe-eyed optimist; from Kidman’s stately portrayal of the courageous Gretchen Carlson to Theron’s immersive transformation into Kelly, the actors are betrayed by a script and direction that left them no good places to hang their performances.
My Grade: D