Lionsgate
Back in 2016, several women from Fox News came forth with sexual harassment allegations against Roger Ailes, CEO of Fox News. Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Ailes. That eventually led to more women, including Megyn Kelly who hosted The Kelly File, to come forward. Ailes resigned in July 2016 after given the choice of resigning or being fired. Less than one year after his resignation, Ailes passed away at the age of 77.
Bombshell, directed by Jay Roach, tells the story of the brave Fox News workers who came forth with allegations against Ailes. The cast for Bombshell is impressive with Charlize Theron playing Megyn Kelly, Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson, and John Lithgow as Roger Ailes. Margot Robbie also stars in the film as a character made for the movie inspired by several real women.
The most impressive thing about Bombshell is the makeup. Both Charlize Theron and John Lithgow are almost unrecognizable in their roles. They look more like the people they are playing than themselves. A lot of work into making this film as believable as possible. There are also many times that Megyn Kelly is discussing politics with Donald Trump and instead of using actual footage of Trump and Kelly, the film integrates Charlize Theron into the conversation, and it looks seamless.
Jay Roach, who previously directed Trumbo, Meet the Parents, and Austin Powers, has a good eye for crafting tension. The situation that the women were in was horrible. No person should be put through that. The scenes involving Ailes and the times he harassed women, were slowed down and felt dramatic. You were able to feel how heart-wrenching those moments were and the emotions the women were feeling.
Bombshell is filmed in a style like The Big Short. There were plenty of times that Charlize Theron turned to the camera and informed the viewers something important about Fox News. It keeps the film upbeat where most of the film feels bleak. This style was also presented in the most recent Netflix film The Laundromat and I appreciate this style of filmmaking.
Margot Robbie’s character was made up for the film and best interacts with co-worker Jess Carr, played by Kate McKinnon. They provide the most laughs in the film, which was delightful since the subject matter was grim. The acting from everyone in the film was emotional. There were a lot of people affected by the situation, which only made it more important to move forward with. That brought on some actresses such as Connie Britton and Alison Janney, who were both great in their roles.
The story of the Fox News workers who came forth with allegations was previously made into a Showtime original series, The Loudest Voice. I think Bombshell was much more of an effective approach to the story. It’s also crazy to me that the director of Austin Powers was the director behind this! Talk about a career shift!
Bombshell has a run time of 1 hour 48 minutes and is rated R for sexual material and language throughout.
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