Bombshell Spoiler Review and Nerdy Stuff
Bombshell is a biographical drama directed by Jay Roach Perhaps best known for directing all three Austin Powers movies. Which given the subject matter of this film are two films at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to genre.
Bombshell follows the very much true and very disturbing scandal at Fox News in America over sexual harassment allegations from a plethora of women toward Roger Ailes (played by John Lithgow) head of Fox News. Charlize Theron plays TV personality Megyn Kelly who is a respected employee at Fox News but is hiding something deep down that she feels could ruin her if it gets out but it’s at no fault of her own. Real-life news anchor Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) was fired from Fox News for refusing to abide by the rules set by her superiors (which are disturbing at the least but we’ll get to that later) and for being and I quote “Sexy but hard work” from John Lithgows – Roger Ailes. Margot Robbie plays Kayla Pospisil, a character created just for this film to protect the identities of those that came forward out of the spotlight, but her character embodies many women and the victim’s nightmares of what it must have been like to be, and again I’m quoting “a female with a good body” at Fox News.
This film was shot in a unique way, in my opinion, the colour pallet chosen for this film is really vibrant and in your face which could seem out of place in a film with such ‘touchy’ subject matter. However, it doesn’t, the film feels like I’m watching a news report even though the film isn’t shot like a news report. It just seems to have a filter over the top of it which gives it the same sort of vibrancy of colours that news shows (especially in the USA) go for. There are also subtle details in certain camera shots depending on the action of a character. Every time a character interacts with another character at the workplace whether that be physically or someone speaking to someone in a sexually charged way, the camera ever so slightly zooms in on the character that engaged it. Its doesn’t happen often but it’s a clever way of addressing the subject matter of the film without shoving it in the audiences face all the time and also gets people thinking about certain characters intentions or whether it was just a friendly embrace, just like in real life.
The film is well-acted by everyone involved, but the stand out performance for me is Margot Robbie. She shines through in her performance as a young girl pursuing her long-time dream of working at Fox News. Even when things take a turn for the worse she sticks at it she doesn’t know any better, she knows its wrong, but she has her dream job so she doesn’t let it show it is bothering her until someone mentions it. Her attitude changes completely. She gets upset and starts to cry and at one point when Megyn confronts her about it she even tries to pin the blame on her, because this is what sexual harassment can do, it makes you think it’s you and other peoples fault except for the person who is doing it.
There is a borderline grotesque scene where Roger invites Kayla to his office to say ‘Hi’ and everything seems alright until she asks to move up the network this then gives Roger the opportunity to strike tricking Kayla to lift up her dress. The scene is really hard to watch as there is no music score not much dialogue. Just pure intensity as Kayla slowly lifts up her dress little by little whilst Roger looks her up and down whispering “A little higher”. It’s really haunting, to be honest.
Watching this film it’s hard to believe that this is a true story due to the rules that the employees had to follow they were like they were prisoners. Women have to ask for permission to wear pants/trousers on-air; getting forced to wear short skirts to show a little leg; forcing them to shorten the already thigh-high skirts they were wearing and having an in house samaritans helpline that to report such things as sexual assault but having that helpline monitored by Roger Ailes the man responsible for the harassment also having all issues dealt with through in house arbitration
Gretchen Carlson is the start of the revolution against Roger as she puts her neck on the line hoping to put a stop to Roger and his actions. Her coming forward with the sexual harassment allegations against Roger inspires more women to stand up against the monster. Roger obviously denies the claims and thinks that because he is a powerful man he can simply buy his way to innocence. However, he underestimates Gretchen and the women of Fox News who turn out to be more than “Bimbos” as Donald Trump once said.
Final Score
Title:Okay
Bombshell is a surprising film that is well shot and well-acted and it’s hard to believe that the scandal was real and left me hoping that most of it was dramatized for the film but doing my research it’s pretty faithful. Other than feeling pretty long for a film that is under 2 hours and using archived footage against real actors (which sometimes they don’t look that much alike so it can get a little muddled on who is who) the film does justice of women standing against prejudice and sexual harassment in the workplace and overall bravery of women in a post #MeToo world.
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