Directed by Jay Roach
Written by Charles Randolph
Starring Margot Robbie, Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Kate McKinnon
Running time: 1 hour and 48 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for sexual material and language throughout

by Rosalie Kicks, Old Sport

“No crying at Fox.”

It is rather precious that a story about women being sexually harassed and demoralized in the workplace is being told by a couple of men. (cut to: major eyeroll) 

I struggled a bit with finding the words for this review as, on the one hand, I feel the overall message of this film is important, however the execution of it is rather hokey. I should not be as shocked as I am by the stylistic choices, as this movie was helmed by Jay Roach, the director behind the Austin Powers and Meet the Parents movie things. These are two series that I, for one, would love to forget even exist within the same timeline as my life. Whereas his previous work, maybe not counting Trumbo, has been rather meaningless. Bombshell seems to want to be important. So much so that it tries really really hard. Inevitably, it wants the viewer to walk away knowing the importance of standing up for one another to avoid the continuance of systematic abuse, exploitation and malevolence not only within the workplace, but in life. Unfortunately, the ideas and information Bombshell is peddling are being sold in caricature representations that I found hard to take seriously. 

I also question who this film is intended for? I doubt that a conservative fella or gal will venture out to the cinema to watch an hour and forty eight minute synopsis of how their beloved Fox News allowed a despicable tyrant like Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) to walk the halls scouring for legs, aka females, to “help” with their career. As he so foolishly put it, “I gave them jobs - do you think I really did damage to them?” I would imagine the Fox lovin’ bunch would just see this movie as some type of liberal smear campaign from those Hollywood lefties. In their eyes, the horrific harassment and hostile work environment that these women experienced was just par for the course when one decides to make a career in video journalism. 

For the rest of us, this movie ends up being an almost two hour reiteration of everything we know to be true about Fox News; they are a media machine that spews messages of hate, twists the truth and is run by actual demonic soulless creatures, aka realllllly realllllly rich people. There is no doubt that with Margot Robbie, Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Kate McKinnon this cast is stacked. It also comes as no surprise that all of these women give impeccable performances and make a script lacking depth, somewhat worthy of your time. Charlize appeared to have morphed into the persona of Megyn Kelly; Fox’s A-list news anchor that famously got into a battle with our dumpster fire Prezzie via twitter. Margot Robbie’s character, Kayla Pospisil (a conservative southerner born and raised on Fox News who dreamt of a career working for the fascist media machine) despite being fictitious, makes you feel for the trauma she undergoes after an encounter with Roger and the risk associated when a person who chooses to bury their own suffering deep underground. Kayla may have been created for the sake of adding drama to the film, but this character serves an essential purpose within this overall nightmare. Similar could be said for Kate McKinnon’s made-up character, Jess Carr-a liberal lesbian with the heart of gold, whom finds herself working for one of Satan’s lackies, Bill O’Reilly. Jess adds to the story, by showing the horrors one experiences in an environment that perpetuates and rewards the act of dehumanizing. 

Stories such as the one presented here continue to come out from women that have been violated, some very similar to the one depicted by Margot. Men utilizing their position of power to coerce others to commit demeaning acts in order to succeed in their career. It should be noted though, speaking up does not often come with reward. One first has to have someone believe their story, which is often the hardest step of all. I believe all of these women saw the usefulness of a film such as this and the necessity for this story to be told at this particular time. Bombshell does do a great job of demonstrating the power of speaking up and the harm one’s silence causes. If talking head, Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) had not come forward regarding the sexual assault, belittlement and humiliation suffered by time spent working with Roger Ailes, it may not have ever stopped.