Bombshell (2019): Review by @Kush_Hayes
I must announce that I live under a rock. After seeing my third Legal Drama Biopic in three weeks, I am oblivious to what seems to be happening in “the real world”. You can read my reviews on Dark Waters and Richard Jewell to understand more of what I’m saying. And with that we go into a review of a movie “based on a true story” is about the scandal from 2016 that I'm guessing was overshadowed by the Election that year. That scandal is the accusation of Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson who after being fired from her position went ahead and sued Fox News CEO Roger Ailes.
Whats weird about this, as far as the film is concerned is that Gretchen Carlson is not the main character of this movie. That honor goes to Charlize Therons (amazing) portrayal of Megyn Kelly and the nonsense she went through starting with publicly confronting Donald Trump for his abusive and sexist tirades he made not just in Twitter but on major broadcast television at multiple times. And once we see that chaos that comes and goes from that, its then Kellys burden to decide whether or not she will join Carlson cause.
While “Based on True Scandal”, this is probably the realist “Based on a True Story” movie, if not of 2019, than in a long time. Much like real life, it doesn't have a satisfying conclusion. You are neither happy, or upset. And our characters, none of them are binary, its lots and lots of shades of gray. Characters want to do the right thing but then have to worry about their job, their family, how they will make a living, random people voicing their opinions at them, right or wrong but always in inappropriate manners at inconvenient times. Even our lead villain, played by John Lithgow, while its no doubt hes done monstrous things, hes also an old, fragile, mentally unstable man whose life experiences and trauma brought him to this point in life where he might not realize how bad these things are, but is shamed in front of the woman he loves and who in turn loves him back. More on this in a bit.
Whoever was in charge of the makeup for this movie, the game is over and this person deserves the Academy Award for makeup and effects due to how unrecognizable him and lead Theron are in their roles. And true, Lithgow is just a tad more recognizable, this is truly a character actors movie, featuring great performances from such as Richard Kind, playing no ones favorite mayor - Rudy Guliani, Stephen Root as Neil Mullen, and in a brief scene, Tony Plana as Geraldo Rivera who I think gets the best line in the movie, that in my screening no one reacted too but myself.
This movie opens and closes with the same disclaimer that, ‘with the exception of some archival footage, everyone in this movie was an actor’. I know I didnt word that correctly, but still. Charles Randolph, takes what was archived on national tv and was able to piece together a cohesive story where people are flawed, even our heroes who compromise to benefit their own lives and do acknowledge that because, well, theyre just human. When Megyn Kelly goes after Trump, its not because shes a “feminist”, which they go out of their way multiple times to state that she isnt, but the character doesnt appreciate the generalization of women. And then, despite being a public figure, when the pressure gets too much for her, for her family, for her life, she takes the quickest exit she can. And its all of that, that makes her hesitate whether or not to come forward to aide Carlsons cause. When Roger Ailes does sexually harass Margot Robbie (who from what Ive gathered isnt a real figure, but an amalgamation of a few women), he immediately is disappointed in himself and tries to steer the conversation back to normal. And to be frank, who knows if he ever had those feelings, or if in real life he was a mustache twirling villain, but one thing on record is that if those around him had his respect, like with Megyn Kelly, he would go the distance to defend or protect him, whereas with Carlson, he just has contempt for her because she wouldnt allow the men around her to harass her, sexually or any other way. Its these examples that show what an interesting dichotomy human beings are and that nothing is 100%.
Randolphs script is all about what the average human being tolerates and compromises in this world, because sometimes its easier to get stepped on and move forward than to stand your ground and fight back.Other examples of this are a male producer who wants to defend his talent and assist her with every resource at his disposal, but ‘the last time we did this, everyone was incredibly inconvenienced’. Another character isnt necessarily a closeted homosexual, but also isnt advertising that at the conservative right wing news network she works at, and when asked why not work somewhere else, well, no one was hiring her before, and definitely no one will hire her now. And before I forget, women in this movie either hate each other for “reasons”, or all have this silent gaze of understanding one another.
As stated above, this may be the realist movie exhibited in a while, it displays the conflicts and contradictions that are happening today in the modern workforce, not just in major news network, but workplaces all over the United States. As I think about it, Im kind of surprised theres no statistic for sexual harassment in the workplace especially with this just taking place in 2016.
Beside the point, this movie is an interesting character study, with fantastic performers who literally disappear into their roles and while I dont think theres anything spectacular about it visually that would necessitate a theatrical viewing of it, its definitely worth a viewing and I see it receiving a few supporting nominations in 2020.
Four out of Six Blueberries
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