Bombshell (2019, R)

I know this is a movie that didn’t live up to expectations, and I can tell that it’s not all that it could be, but I did still find it effective on the whole, even if it certainly could have been better. While this is something of a surprising subject for the first film specifically depicting events tied to the MeToo movement, I think the film balances things well enough to keep it complex and engaging.

Essentially, the story of the women of Fox News. Our main focuses are as follows. Megyn Kelly, an avowed non-feminist who finds herself in viewer crosshairs when she takes Donald Trump to task at a Republican debate for his treatment of women. Kayla Pospisil (a composite character,) an ambitious young woman who dreams of being on the air but isn’t prepared for the sort of “whatever it takes” that Fox News head Roger Ailes has in mind. And Gretchen Carlson, a host who’s seen her professional prospects decline as she’s spoken out against sexual harassment and is quietly waiting for her moment to bring the house down. At the center of it all is Roger, who’s been both instigating and enabling a company-wide culture of harassment, toxicity, and abuse for decades.

While watching the film, I definitely got the sense that it was trying very hard to be an Adam McKay film, and sure enough, it was written by Charles Randolph, who co-wrote The Big Short. For me, though, it doesn’t quite manage to recreate that special sauce. It plays around with the fourth-camera-breaking, the archive footage, and whatnot, but it doesn’t push at the notions of what a based-on-a-true-story film looks like as much as The Big Short or Vice do. The proceedings here are a little more straightforward.

It’s still an interesting story, though, and it is an interesting choice that this, the first “MeToo movie,” is about women like Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson. Roger, no doubt, is every inch the reprehensible lech, but Megyn and Gretchen are highly-unsympathetic victims for plenty of women. That said, I personally feel the movie handles that dichotymy well. These aren’t sympathetic people, and they cause plenty of harm to others through their reporting (some of which is recreated onscreen,) but that still doesn’t mean they deserve to be harassed. And just as their peddling of nativist rhetoric doesn’t mean they “deserve” what they get, being the victims of sexual harassment doesn’t in turn suddenly make them heroes. There’s a complexity here that I appreciate.

It’s another film with strong acting, especially from the main four. Margot Robbie is a standout for me as Kayla, and she has the Supporting Actress nomination to prove it – her first scene in Roger’s office is just a masterclass in acting. Nicole Kidman does a great Gretchen Carlson, and Charlize Theron, up for Leading Actress, is eerily-good as Megyn Kelly (the film was also nominated for Makeup and Hairstyling, probably largely on the strength of how much Theron looks like Kelly here.) John Lithgow is suitably creepy and horrible as Roger Ailes. The film is impressibly packed with other good actors turning in nice work. For me, highlights include Kate McKinnon and Jennifer Morrison (her part is very small but highly effective,) and the film also features Allison Janney, Malcolm McDowell, Mark Duplass, Stephen Root, D’Arcy Carden (Janet from The Good Place!), and Richard Kind, among others. Phew!

Warnings

Sexual content (including sexual harassment,) language (including sexist insults,) and strong thematic elements.