Synopsis:
A group of women take on Fox News head Roger Ailes and the toxic atmosphere he presided over at the network.

Cast: Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, John Lithgow, Allison Janney, Malcolm McDowell, Kate McKinnon, Connie Britton, Liv Hewson, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Rob Delaney, Mark Duplass

Director: Jay Roach
Writer: Charles Randolph

The events depicted in Bombshell only happened a couple of years ago, and with Donald Trump still the President of the United States and an impeachment trial kicking off this week, it’s very evident while watching how recent the film’s events are. However, the rather fun and stylistic approach that director Jay Roach applies is an odd tone for the subject matter.

On July 6, 2016, former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) filed a sexual-harassment lawsuit against the then–president of Fox News, Roger Ailes (John Lithgow), who quickly rebutted the claims and slandered them as lies. Meanwhile, at Fox News, these events caused a ripple effect for many, including younger interns who had been, or were being, harassed by Ailes—represented here by the fictional character Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie). At the center of the film is Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron), who has just gone through a year of turmoil after questioning Donald Trump’s treatment of women and being targeted by his Twitter followers. She now faces the question of joining those coming forward about Ailes or staying silent to protect herself and those around her.

Bombshell has too many characters to give any the deep dive they deserve. The film tries to focus on the events that led to Ailes’s dismissal from Fox News, but it’s unfocused in how it gets there. Gretchen Carlson, you’d think, should be at the center of that story, but she’s oddly sidelined quickly after filing the case. Kayla, a devout Fox fan trying to make her dream job come true, is compelling, but there isn’t enough screen time to fully explore her. Megyn Kelly becomes the main focus—an odd framing choice. The problem isn’t who the film focuses on so much as how many potentially interesting leads it has without giving enough to any of them.

Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and John Lithgow all received fantastic—and at times uncanny—prosthetic and makeup work. Theron, in particular, disappears into Kelly: the voice, cadence and physicality are tuned in perfectly. Kidman’s look occasionally becomes distracting—something around the chin/neck prosthetic, perhaps—though it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what was bothering me. Lithgow is plumped up in a fat suit alongside the prosthetics and makeup to great effect.

Margot Robbie escapes the daily prosthetic routine as the fictional Kayla and delivers a strong performance that could have anchored the whole film. Her scenes with co-worker Jess (Kate McKinnon)—a closeted Hillary supporter and lesbian working at Fox—produce some of the film’s most intimate and real-feeling moments.

With Charles Randolph as screenwriter, you get the fast pace and fourth-wall flourishes familiar from The Big Short. But Jay Roach seems a bit too intent on mimicking Adam McKay’s style behind the camera, and it can feel like a stand-in rather than its own cinematic voice.

What’s most disappointing about Bombshell is how lightly the material is treated. Viewers should feel disgusted; Roger Ailes was a bad man—that’s not up for debate—yet the film pulls its punches. You don’t need graphic depictions of what Ailes coerced young women to do for job security, but the implication should be truly unsettling. One Kayla scene is appropriately stomach-turning, but it’s the lone moment that hits that tone before the film slips back into pop-inflected storytelling.

There are strong performances—these three stars are among the best working today, and Charlize Theron is especially unrecognisable here—but the film’s unfocused script and its attitude toward the story don’t sit well with me.