Bombshell (2019) Review

At Fox News Roger Ailes was an executive in July 2016 he was fired for multiple sexual harassment cases with 23 known victims, we see the story unfold when women come together to take him down.

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We are first shown the battle between Megyn Kelly and Donald Trump as he is on his way to becoming president and the way she calls him out. With this it is to show that Megyn is very high up for Fox News and obviously trusted within her role. We are then shown Gretchen Carlson who was pretty much demoted by being given the worst time afternoon slot. She seems to be biding her time until they fired her and as soon as this happens she files the sexual harassment lawsuit against Roger Ailes. This was something that she had already spoke to lawyers about.

Within Fox News this supposedly caused outrage and they could not believe it was. Or a least that is what some women claimed. Kayla Pospisil is a composite character which was probably a good addition for the narrative and to pretty much show what would happen when the new up and coming woman came into Fox. Having a “casting” session with Ailes which results in one of the most difficult to watch scenes in the whole film, as he demands to see her dress shorter and shorter. That highlights his predator nature, when you see the camera leading into his office with the locked door from the outside. It did make me think that his receptionist or assistant was very much turning a blind eye to his behaviour and must have had some idea to what was going on.

Megyn Kelly has a lot to lose by telling her story, but it was also noted that she did not voice her support for Ailes. I mean how could she when an incident happened with him ten years earlier? All of this made me think about just how important this film is to demonstrate that it is not right for men to treat women in this manner and women especially young women heading into different workplaces for the first time need showing that this is not right and more importantly it is not their fault.

Obviously this happened in very recent memory with it only being 2016 and given a release three years after the events. Something I believe is a good thing as this is one of the big events which is involved in the Me Too movement and it is is still very relevant. If they waited ten years to release this film would it have the same impact and effect as releasing it now? I guess I cannot really answer that but let’s hope that this film can really make women realise that this treatment is not something that they must put up with or even do to get promotions.

In terms of the story and film it is not fully accurate but I guess sometimes things need to be changed to work as a film. The format of the film felt a little bit strange at first, but it is done in similar fashion to The Big Short and Vice.

The performances are truly outstanding from all of the cast and it just works so well in the best possible way. The critical acclaim that is being handed up is well deserved. Charlize Theron in the more leading role is engaging and you really do feel for her Megyn Kelly! I hadn’t really heard much about John Lithgow’s performance but it really is amazing, I don’t know if that is because the character he is playing is obviously not a very nice man but he is very good and fortunately not recognisable to himself. Nicole Kidman is always on top form and that is the same in this film, I hadn’t seem as much acclaim surrounding her but she more than deserves it as well.

I’ve then left Margot Robbie until last, the reason behind this is because I really want to praise her performance. I have been a big critic of hers over the years and feel now that I have seen her supporting role in Bombshell I am pleased I can now give her some praise. Two scenes in particular she was outstanding, the awful scene with Ailes and the dress which is awful to watch. Then outside the restaurant on the phone when she realises what happened to her was very wrong.

The sad thing is we need films like this to highlight horrific behaviour from men, because it is still happening to women in so many different ways. You should never have to feel uncomfortable in a room and I personally do not think men realise just how intimating and horrific this can be. Even with small comments that are highly inappropriate.