My takeaway from the film is that any environment run by men is going to devalue the women who work in it. Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. But a peek inside the wardrobe closet reveals the discomfort these women endure in the name of ambition, and the objectification they’re willing to endure for fame. Since his departure from Fox, O'Reilly called reporting of the accusations and settlements by The New York Times a "smear" and has moved on from his "O'Reilly Factor" into a show called "No Spin News." In no time at all, you truly feel as if you’re watching Kelly herself, and the fact that she’s doing an extended walk-and-talk to explain the inner workings of the conservative news network accomplishes a couple of crucial things right off the top. Meanwhile, another fictional character, Kate McKinnon’s lesbian producer Jess Carr, enters the picture as Kayla’s romantic interest, offering a welcome (but almost pathetically convenient) departure from conservatism. Not only is there a massive responsibility to document the events as efficiently and as truthfully as possible, but there is also a great importance to acknowledge how this particular episode – which would eventually lead to the termination of Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, a powerful figure in both conservative media and the entire media industry as a whole – is a major milestone in the fight against harassment in the workplace, especially within an industry where it has been highlighted the most. He has denied any wrongdoing. It has solid performances and Theron’s portrayal of Kelly is uncanny, but it doesn’t tax anyone’s talents into an Oscar-worthy place. Required fields are marked *, New novels from Susanna Clarke, Naomi Novik, and Kim Stanley Robinson. Or maybe they don’t and, more defensibly, the point of “Bombshell” is just to deliver a dishy, delicious, “All About Eve”-style spectacle featuring Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman playing a pair of real-life beautiful women who are approximately as famous as they are — former Fox News hosts Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson, respectively, whose accusations against Ailes ended his lascivious reign of terror. It feels like that’s what happened in the storytelling as well. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here. That means events will … Mostly it’s voiceover, but occasionally the characters pop out of their conversation in-scene and address the camera a la I, Tonya, but not consistently enough to be effective.
Also during the summer of 2016 – and yes, it really does feel like a lifetime ago - Donald Trump is rising to power as the Republican presidential nominee, and his trajectory is becoming intrinsically intertwined with that of his favorite TV news channel. The person to pull the curtain aside and invite us in is Charlize Theron as Kelly, embodying the anchor with eerie accuracy from the first moment we see her. Some of the performances are startlingly dead-on, like Alanna Ubach’s Jeanine Pirro and Allison Janney’s Susan Estrich. If that’s indeed part of this film’s tiny audience, Roach really missed the opportunity to reflect back the harm conservative white women with a public platform, or even a vote, can do. All three women end up playing a part in Ailes’ eventual fall from grace, but not without heavy scrutiny from not just their predominantly male counterparts but also the overly conservative cloud which hangs over Fox News and the nationwide audience that it reaches. Rudy Giuliani Michael Buie. Theron’s Kelly is closer to being the main character, which is kind of odd in itself, given what a slippery, unknowable figure the real Megyn Kelly turned out to be. On the whole, don’t expect anything earth-shattering from “Bombshell” when it comes to complex observations on late-era feminism and its place among conservative women. As it stands, this is not the definitive movie about sexual harassment in a media work environment – it’s perhaps a little too flimsy for its own good – but just like the real scandal it’s based on, it won’t be the last word on it either. All Rights Reserved. Others don’t quite hit the mark, but the whole newsroom culture comes vividly to life, both through production design and the kind of gallows humor that keeps journalists sane during the worst of times. Right away, you detect a certain tone and style to this movie that isn’t dissimilar to something like The Big Short – whose co-writer, Charles Randolph, provided the screenplay for Bombshell – where it’s taking a slightly more playful approach to the heavy topic, with characters addressing the camera directly and certain complicated procedures surrounding the topic at play being explained in simple gestures, even incorporating Margot Robbie in there somewhere as The Big Short cheekily did.