Bombshell (2019)
…………………………………………………
Bombshell Movie Review
Bombshell is a 2019 biographical drama film directed by Jay Roach and starring Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie, Nicole Kidman and John Lithgow. It’s a surprisingly solid movie.
………………………………………………….
“People don’t stop watching when there’s a conflict.
They stop watching when there isn’t one“
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
It follows the story of Megyn Kelly and a couple of other women at Fox News, in particular focusing on the sexual harassment allegations against Roger Ailes. First off, I did not expect this film to be this solid, frequently even very good. It’s a very dramatic, very engaging watch throughout, and in particular it can be quite dark at times with that uncomfortable lifting the skirt scene being so well done and awful in the best way possible.
The movie deals with sexual harassment in workplace in a fine manner, but overall it’s pretty shallow thematically speaking as more should have been done with this issue. The movie is mostly documentarian in approach and not sophisticated enough, rarely raising any points or thoughts about this important issue, which I certainly expected, but still that was a problem.
And it tries to portray way too many characters during a not so long runtime, and it somewhat succeeds, but not fully as the pacing can be rushed often times, and the entire structure of skipping from one to another person was a bit annoying at times.
But I really liked all of the players. Charlize Theron got a more showy role, as she very much looks like Megyn Kelly due to film’s strong make-up, and she is excellent per usual. She continues to be a terrific actress, and with this and ‘Long Shot’, she’s just had one hell of a year. Margot Robbie herself is excellent, playing so well her very emotional sequences.
But I found the other two important players, John Lithgow and Nicole Kidman, hugely underrated when it comes to this movie. The above two got all the praise, but Kidman is terrific as well and quite memorable whereas Lithgow as Ailes is not only incredibly transformed, but he was very believable as this despicable person in and out.
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
Bombshell is not all that well directed or edited, but it does have pretty good dialogue. Again, it’s a very engaging film, unusually so for such a subject matter, but still it’s rarely particularly sophisticated. It has its moving scenes, though, and it deals with a very important subject matter, which gave it a certain degree of importance.
Bombshell is a surprisingly solid film which deals with a very important subject matter in an engaging, dramatic manner. It lacks sophistication and it’s mostly surface-level in the treatment of it, and the pacing can be rushed, but the film is suitably uncomfortable at times and fueled by terrific performances from the whole cast. Yes, Margot Robbie and Charlize Theron are great, but Nicole Kidman and John Lithgow themselves are both excellent, and they too should have gotten more attention for their strong work here.
