Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron, left), Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman, center), and Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie, right) in ‘Bombshell’.
Directed by: Jay Roach
Written by: Charles Randolph
Starring: Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, John Lithgow, Kate McKinnon, Connie Britton, Malcom McDowell, Allison Janney, Margot Robbie
“Bombshell” is the story of the downfall of Roger Ailes at Fox News following the revelation that he had sexually harassed several personnel during his tenure. On the surface level, the story by the Academy Award – winning Charles Randolph is exactly that – it’s a humorous, yet insightful look into the man behind the news.
In that regard, John Lithgow plays the arrogance of Ailes to the hilt, and just as with last year’s “Vice,” the makeup reasserts the vicious nature of the man.
And, yet, Randolph’s characterization of Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron) is the film’s nerve center as someone who realizes that, in spite of all the challenges, there is an opportunity for her to make a name for herself in primetime cable news. It isn’t until Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) takes a stand that Kelly realizes the historic opportunity to expose the unfolding drama.
There’s a lighter touch though to the seriousness behind the allegations, Ailes’s reaction to it and Carson’s gamble that others are going to fall. This supports young Kayla Popisil (Margot Robbie) who oozes sensuality in the way she dresses that, when the opportunity presents itself, that she can get in front of Ailes to propose an opportunity to anchor a news desk.
Barry Ackroyd’s cinematography is intentional in that we see a neutral grey pattern to the lighting, sometimes diffused to suggest the illicit nature of what Ailes was doing to the women that were under his regime.
While the story doesn’t break much ground in terms of diving deeper into Ailes as character, the film isn’t really about him – he is a peripheral character as Kelly comes to terms with his threatening personality through Kayla. Roach infuses a dark humor that echoes Adam McKay’s “The Big Short” from a few years’ back.
The flow of a newsroom at the beginning of the film really sets the stage for each of the character’s motives, itself becoming a character in the film. In such a closed environment, it’s not easy to set a work environment that would force an employee with the stature that Gretchen Carlson had, but Randolph managed to capture the same essence of “The Big Short and Roach ran with it.
If anything, “Bombshell” ran the risk of repeating “Vice” from Adam McKay. What sets them apart, and ironically, Ailes is referenced in that film as well during the Nixon White House era, is that Roach and Randolph chose to soften Ailes’s image through his wife, Beth (Connie Britton) and through the Murdoch’s when Ailes is finally asked to face the music; McDowell nailed Roger Murdoch. There was a nice subtlety that served the frenetic nature of the newsroom at the opening of the film, that the sacrifice that Kidman emoted in playing Gretchen Carlson balances. Theron, ultimately played Megyn Kelly. Theron with a stoicism until the moment when the realization of what Ailes was hit her; just the briefest flicker of shock and then, right back into fully composed and driven.
Whether you fall on the left or the right, “Bombshell” is not a political-driven film; it is truly about the professionals who remained professional in bringing down the most powerful newsperson in our recent lifetime and for that, I’m recommending “Bombshell.”
3.5 out of 4 stars
