Bombshell

Much like Dark Waters, it's impossible to watch Bombshell, and not be enraged.  The film so astutely handles the downfall of predatory Fox News CEO Roger Ailes (John Lithgow, magnificent here), and lays down what happened that it only leaves you questioning why didn't the outcome happen a lot sooner.  People were afraid to speak out, yes, and we sadly live in a society where the accuser is often the accused in situations like this.  If the movie helps open some eyes about this unfortunate aspect of our culture, then all the anger it builds within the viewer is worth it.

At the center of it all is Charlize Theron, giving the most memorable female performance of the year outside of Renee Zellweger in Judy.  The decision as to which actress comes out on top is a tough call.  In playing former Fox News host, Megyn Kelly, Theron does nothing short of transforming herself into the actual person  Her appearance, her voice, her mannerisms are all simply perfection.  And yet, the performance is not just a simple imitation.  It has subtlety, range, and a lot of emotion as she struggles with both her image to the loyal viewers after she asks some tough questions of Presidential candidate Donald Trump, and later when she is forced to face some truths that she has been fighting to suppress concerning Ailes.  It's a complex performance, and simply one of the finest you will see in a while.

Even though Theron's Kelly grabs our attention, it is not entirely her story.  It is also the story of Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman), who more or less had to spend every day on TV as kind of a plastic Barbie-like news figure - All smiles, blonde hair, and long legs.  Behind that image, there was a simmering anger, and Kidman brings it out beautifully here.  When she walks off the set of her show in the middle of it after she's had enough of the jokes and behavior of her two male co-anchors, it is a small spark that is about to ignite a flame within the Cable News world.  After she was fired for reasons she was never truly told, Gretchen sued Roger Ailes.  It was something unprecedented at the time, as Ailes was one of those figures who seemed too powerful to bring down or remove.  But Gretchen knew his weakness, and knew how to fight back.

More or less, Ailes would take advantage of the young women who worked for his network and wanted to get ahead.  He would have women stand up and spin for him, so that he could admire their figures, all the while saying that he just wanted to know if they were right for TV.  "Television is a visual medium", he would tell them.  Sometimes he would go much further.  In one scene, while interviewing a woman named Kayla (Margot Robbie), he tells her to lift her skirt up a little, because he wants to see her legs.  She is nervous, but complies.  "Higher", he says.  Again, she obeys, but he still wants to see more.  This scene alone depicting Robbie's discomfort and humiliation, and Lithgow's silent leering is the single most tense moment of any film this year, and is more terrifying than any ghost story Hollywood can dream up.

Kayla is a composite of many different women whom Ailes promised would "help" advance their careers on his network, as long as they played along, and of course said nothing afterward.  Robbie does a wonderful job of playing the conflicted sides of her character.  On one hand, she supports Fox News and its mission, and she wants to do great things for the network.  But, she is also appalled, and doesn't even know who she can talk to or trust.  Bombshell shows us all angles of the network mentality.  We have the big name TV hosts who simply seem to ignore whatever happens to be going on.  We also have women like Jess Carr (Saturday Night Live's Kate McKinnon, wonderful in a rare dramatic role), who is lesbian but will never come out publicly, as she's afraid it would hurt her job on the network.  Even Theron's Kelly questions whether or not she should come forward, and tries her best to dodge the issue.  After all, she's already in hot water for the questions she asked Trump during the debate.  Would coming forward doom her career even more?

This is a movie that has been perfectly cast, as not only do the actors look like who they are representing, but they capture their personas.  Maybe not quite to the complete transformation level that Theron pulls off, but still impressive.  It also makes sure that the movie tackles the personal lives of these individual women, so that we see them beyond the TV cameras.  From Kelly and her husband (Mark Duplass) disagreeing over how she is handling her career decisions (he is especially angered when he sees her give an interview with Trump that is comprised of softball questions), to Gretchen trying to put a brave face on for her children while dealing with the impending lawsuit, the movie creates some wonderful drama, and chances for all three leading lady performances to stand out. 

Bombshell is full of hard truths, moments of sharp wit, and an overall sense that it's a story that needed to be told.  It is likely to inspire anger, but most importantly, I hope that it inspires action in just about any area of the work place where these sort of things are happening.  It's a terrific, eye-opening piece of entertainment, and one that is not soon forgotten after watching it.

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