Movie review: Bombshell
Surely no other movie of late captures the zeitgeist quite like Bombshell, but one wishes it was more stunning and less safe.
Based on the Fox News sexual harassment scandal of 2016, this is a fascinating look into the stories of the women who brought down the media empire's head honcho Roger Ailes (John Lithgow).
It unfolds by introducing popular but polarising news anchor Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron), who becomes the target of Mr Donald Trump's insults after questioning him on his negative comments about women - an encounter that spawned one of his most infamous quotes ("There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever").
REMOVED
Meanwhile, another familiar Fox News face, Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman), is removed as co-anchor of the popular Fox & Friends, transferred to a dead time slot and eventually fired - but not before enduring misogynistic and sexist comments from male colleagues and a particularly damning menopause insult from Ailes, whose sexual advances she rejected.
Then there is Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie), an ambitious producer who is invited to Ailes' office, leading to a truly disturbing scene where he makes her lift her skirt to show him her underwear.
The narratives of the trio finally converge when Ailes is sued and investigated for his actions.
Although the material hardly stretches them, the female leads are formidable as always.
Theron literally disappears into her role as the steely yet conflicted Kelly thanks to expertly deployed prosthetics, while Robbie has a standout moment when the cracks show beneath the pretty, chirpy veneer.
In our current social climate, it can be rather cathartic to watch victimised, silenced and powerless women wrestle control back from their workplace abusers.
Told stylishly and with humour in parts, Bombshell manages to be entertaining in spite of its heavy subject matter.
However, the film-makers could have peeled back more layers of its central characters, or gone in harder and deeper to make this cultural touchpoint a more hard-hitting, explosive cinematic experience.
Because as it is, Bombshell does not provide the full-on fallout that we want and need.
score: 3.5/5
FILM: Bombshell
STARRING: Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, John Lithgow
DIRECTOR: Jay Roach
THE SKINNY: Three women working at Fox News - news anchors Megyn Kelly (Theron) and Gretchen Carlson (Kidman) as well as a new staff member (Robbie) - take on the network's rampant culture of sexism and topple its chief executive Roger Ailes (Lithgow).
RATING: NC16
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