Based on a real scandal, Bomshell is this awards season's politically-rallied 'of the times' movie, following in the footsteps of Vice and The Big Short in recent years. With an all-star cast buoyed by Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie, does Bombshell stir up a perfect political storm, or drop a major misfire on audiences?
With a complete lack of self-awareness, Bombshell is as shallow and toothless as politically-minded pictures come. While your enjoyment and appreciation of Jay Roach's effort, more so than most other films, will be influenced by the politics you bring into it, even its most ardent supporters will surely be unable to look beyond the incredibly muddled politics and the sanctimonious message it preaches in favour of something far more thematically rich and rewarding.
Bombshell's screenplay, written by Charles Randolph, explores how white, rich (and therefore comparatively privileged) republican women survive in a patriarchal environment riddled with sexual assault allegations and serial misconduct. It brashly presents itself as a movie for the #MeToo era without recognising the deeply problematic and morally conflicting grey area within the film asking us to care for women who, through their roles on Fox News, have actively made the lives of poor, non-white and other minorities worse. It goes without saying that no one deserves to experience the sexual abuse levelled towards these women, but in the same breath, that the film neglects to challenge how the network itself cultivated the landscape - through the presidential candidates it supports and right-wing propaganda it spreads - is embarrassingly underwritten at best, purposely, horribly ignorant at worst.
A satirical lens would have helped this film greatly. An attempt to convey how these women only seem to care when their own lives are directly impacted by injustice would enrich the social commentary ten-fold; we need only look to Rian Johnson's Knives Out and the handling of Katherine Langford's Meg a few months back to see how impressively this can be achieved. From fictionalising a lesbian producer who, on two different occasions exclaims "imagine being a lesbian at Fox News!" to evoke sympathy from audiences without really considering the implications of what that means to tackling political difference in a flippant and cringe-inducing supermarket scene speaks volumes on how underdeveloped and unsubtle Randolph's writing is here.
Such an oversimplification in the writing process, that attempts to decontextualise these women from their beliefs in a movie that otherwise firmly lodges itself in the here and now, is what reduces Bombshell to the most shallow, surface-level messages. "Girl power!" isn't "girl power!" when those girls wouldn't bat an eyelid if anyone not white, rich, republican or probably blonde were enduring what they had.
Jay Roach's direction hardly matters either. While he lands on a small handful of impressive scenes - most notably, a well-crafted elevator moment that brings the three key players into the same space - there's a tonal inconsistency to Bombshell that undermines any weight that still existed in the mishandled screenplay. Additionally, a pivotal scene involving Margot Robbie's composite character is shot with a voyeurism that sits rather uncomfortably given the nature of the scene, unnecessarily graphic in its presentation. Executed with such confidence in its fourth-wall-breaking, direct addressing bravado, it makes the thud to rock bottom all the more embarrassing to witness.
Charlize Theron is undoubtedly excellent in the starring role, transforming in front of our very eyes into Megyn Kelly. Both visually, thanks to some superb make-up and prosthetics, and in her more subtle mannerism, it really is a sturdy turn from the ever-reliable Theron who embodies Kelly tremendously well. Likewise, it's a great performance from John Lithgow as Roger Ailes, who unsettles with a sliminess perfectly suited to the infamous figure. Robbie is good and Kidman is fine, both solid in their supporting capacities - but either character would serve as a more suitable lead, despite Theron giving the stronger performance. It's a shame this cast can't have put their talents to good use.
An admittedly strong score from Theodore Shapiro is the only other positive this film can be given beyond its cast. Badly-written and poorly-justified, it's difficult to rationalise exactly who this film was made for - or even why it was made at all. There are (unfortunately) countless #MeToo-adjacent stories to be told, more fascinating angles to frame them through and more deserving subjects to have their experiences shared, so why we have ended up with a film that willingly wades into murky political water without the depth, wisdom or ability to deliver anything meaningful is entirely perplexing. Bombshell is the little sister of Vice and The Big Short, and I don't like her at all.
Summary: Bombshell implodes with a complete lack of self-awareness, as shallow and toothless as politically-minded pictures come. While well performed by its cast, it is embarrassingly underwritten at best, purposely ignorant at worst.
With a complete lack of self-awareness, Bombshell is as shallow and toothless as politically-minded pictures come. While your enjoyment and appreciation of Jay Roach's effort, more so than most other films, will be influenced by the politics you bring into it, even its most ardent supporters will surely be unable to look beyond the incredibly muddled politics and the sanctimonious message it preaches in favour of something far more thematically rich and rewarding.
Bombshell's screenplay, written by Charles Randolph, explores how white, rich (and therefore comparatively privileged) republican women survive in a patriarchal environment riddled with sexual assault allegations and serial misconduct. It brashly presents itself as a movie for the #MeToo era without recognising the deeply problematic and morally conflicting grey area within the film asking us to care for women who, through their roles on Fox News, have actively made the lives of poor, non-white and other minorities worse. It goes without saying that no one deserves to experience the sexual abuse levelled towards these women, but in the same breath, that the film neglects to challenge how the network itself cultivated the landscape - through the presidential candidates it supports and right-wing propaganda it spreads - is embarrassingly underwritten at best, purposely, horribly ignorant at worst.
A satirical lens would have helped this film greatly. An attempt to convey how these women only seem to care when their own lives are directly impacted by injustice would enrich the social commentary ten-fold; we need only look to Rian Johnson's Knives Out and the handling of Katherine Langford's Meg a few months back to see how impressively this can be achieved. From fictionalising a lesbian producer who, on two different occasions exclaims "imagine being a lesbian at Fox News!" to evoke sympathy from audiences without really considering the implications of what that means to tackling political difference in a flippant and cringe-inducing supermarket scene speaks volumes on how underdeveloped and unsubtle Randolph's writing is here.
Such an oversimplification in the writing process, that attempts to decontextualise these women from their beliefs in a movie that otherwise firmly lodges itself in the here and now, is what reduces Bombshell to the most shallow, surface-level messages. "Girl power!" isn't "girl power!" when those girls wouldn't bat an eyelid if anyone not white, rich, republican or probably blonde were enduring what they had.
Jay Roach's direction hardly matters either. While he lands on a small handful of impressive scenes - most notably, a well-crafted elevator moment that brings the three key players into the same space - there's a tonal inconsistency to Bombshell that undermines any weight that still existed in the mishandled screenplay. Additionally, a pivotal scene involving Margot Robbie's composite character is shot with a voyeurism that sits rather uncomfortably given the nature of the scene, unnecessarily graphic in its presentation. Executed with such confidence in its fourth-wall-breaking, direct addressing bravado, it makes the thud to rock bottom all the more embarrassing to witness.
Charlize Theron is undoubtedly excellent in the starring role, transforming in front of our very eyes into Megyn Kelly. Both visually, thanks to some superb make-up and prosthetics, and in her more subtle mannerism, it really is a sturdy turn from the ever-reliable Theron who embodies Kelly tremendously well. Likewise, it's a great performance from John Lithgow as Roger Ailes, who unsettles with a sliminess perfectly suited to the infamous figure. Robbie is good and Kidman is fine, both solid in their supporting capacities - but either character would serve as a more suitable lead, despite Theron giving the stronger performance. It's a shame this cast can't have put their talents to good use.
An admittedly strong score from Theodore Shapiro is the only other positive this film can be given beyond its cast. Badly-written and poorly-justified, it's difficult to rationalise exactly who this film was made for - or even why it was made at all. There are (unfortunately) countless #MeToo-adjacent stories to be told, more fascinating angles to frame them through and more deserving subjects to have their experiences shared, so why we have ended up with a film that willingly wades into murky political water without the depth, wisdom or ability to deliver anything meaningful is entirely perplexing. Bombshell is the little sister of Vice and The Big Short, and I don't like her at all.
Summary: Bombshell implodes with a complete lack of self-awareness, as shallow and toothless as politically-minded pictures come. While well performed by its cast, it is embarrassingly underwritten at best, purposely ignorant at worst.