BOMBSHELL
****
Director: Jay Roach
Screenwriter: Charles Randolph
Principal cast:
Charlize Theron
Nicole Kidman
Margot Robbie
John Lithgow
Kate McKinnon
Malcolm McDowell
Country: USA/Canada
Classification: M
Runtime: 109 mins.
Australian release date: 16 January 2020
Previewed at: Event Cinemas, George Street, Sydney, on 13 January 2020.
Jay Roach initially came to fame directing comedies such as the three titles in the Austin Powers franchise and both Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers. For the last decade or so, however, he’s specialised in more political fare, often for the small screen - telemovies like Recount, Game Change and All The Way. Now he’s directed another film based on reality, Bombshell, which looks at the story behind the sacking of Roger Ailes, the conservative mastermind behind the creation of Fox News, the favourite television channel of President Donald J. Trump. It’s not a pretty story but Roach has done an excellent job of turning it into a thoroughly engaging work of cinema. And what a cast!
Before Harvey Weinstein there was Roger Ailes (played here by John Lithgow) who, we learn, was using his power and influence to sexually harass his female employees for many years, both before and after he formed Fox News. Shamelessly, he is reputed to have told his victims that “to get ahead, you’ve got to give a little head.” Bombshell looks at the background to the case that brought him undone, when he sacked a high-profile female presenter, Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman), and she subsequently sued him for sexual harassment. Carlson was sure other women at Fox would come forward but they were all too afraid, such was his fearsome reputation. One of the channel’s most prominent hosts, Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron), is silent when asked to support Ailes and her silence is noted by the boss. As she starts to make enquiries of other staff at the channel she encounters Kayla Pospisil (a composite character portrayed by Margot Robbie), Ailes’ latest victim, and the enormity of the CEO’s transgressions starts to become clear to her. The rest, as they say, is history. Rupert Murdoch, who bankrolled Fox News, saw the writing on the wall and acted to save the jewel in the crown of his TV empire.
With a terrific script by Charles Randolph, the Oscar-winning writer of The Big Short, Bombshell has been nominated in three categories in the forthcoming Academy Awards: Best Actress (Charlize Theron), Best Supporting Actress (Margot Robbie) and Best Hair & Make-Up. It deserves all three but, conceivably, was overlooked in the Best Original Screenplay stakes. Randolph’s dialogue crackles and his characters occasionally ‘break the fourth wall’ to speak directly to the audience, a device that works well here. Of Kayla Pospisil, Randolph explains that, “Kayla is the emotional centre of our story - someone we identify with as she experiences harassment. Kayla’s is the story we least often hear: the story of the woman who gives in to a harasser, and what that means to her life. I didn’t want to put that burden on a real person, so I made that character fictional.” He continues, “Megyn is the film’s narrative centre. She is our Dante, who takes us deep into this world. Gretchen is the moral centre in that she frames the issue and makes the most heroic choice.” Telling the story from these three different viewpoints is highly satisfying because it helps us to understand how men in power have been able to get away with such despicable behaviour for so long.
Bombshell is a story of its time (which has also been told recently in the streaming series The Loudest Voice, for which Russell Crowe won a Golden Globe for his blistering portrayal of Ailes). See it for the extraordinary lead cast, plus some spot-on supporting performances from Allison Janney, Kate McKinnon, Connie Britton and Malcolm McDowell (who nails Rupert Murdoch), and for the power of its sensational screenplay.
Screenwriter: Charles Randolph
Principal cast:
Charlize Theron
Nicole Kidman
Margot Robbie
John Lithgow
Kate McKinnon
Malcolm McDowell
Country: USA/Canada
Classification: M
Runtime: 109 mins.
Australian release date: 16 January 2020
Previewed at: Event Cinemas, George Street, Sydney, on 13 January 2020.
Jay Roach initially came to fame directing comedies such as the three titles in the Austin Powers franchise and both Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers. For the last decade or so, however, he’s specialised in more political fare, often for the small screen - telemovies like Recount, Game Change and All The Way. Now he’s directed another film based on reality, Bombshell, which looks at the story behind the sacking of Roger Ailes, the conservative mastermind behind the creation of Fox News, the favourite television channel of President Donald J. Trump. It’s not a pretty story but Roach has done an excellent job of turning it into a thoroughly engaging work of cinema. And what a cast!
Before Harvey Weinstein there was Roger Ailes (played here by John Lithgow) who, we learn, was using his power and influence to sexually harass his female employees for many years, both before and after he formed Fox News. Shamelessly, he is reputed to have told his victims that “to get ahead, you’ve got to give a little head.” Bombshell looks at the background to the case that brought him undone, when he sacked a high-profile female presenter, Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman), and she subsequently sued him for sexual harassment. Carlson was sure other women at Fox would come forward but they were all too afraid, such was his fearsome reputation. One of the channel’s most prominent hosts, Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron), is silent when asked to support Ailes and her silence is noted by the boss. As she starts to make enquiries of other staff at the channel she encounters Kayla Pospisil (a composite character portrayed by Margot Robbie), Ailes’ latest victim, and the enormity of the CEO’s transgressions starts to become clear to her. The rest, as they say, is history. Rupert Murdoch, who bankrolled Fox News, saw the writing on the wall and acted to save the jewel in the crown of his TV empire.
With a terrific script by Charles Randolph, the Oscar-winning writer of The Big Short, Bombshell has been nominated in three categories in the forthcoming Academy Awards: Best Actress (Charlize Theron), Best Supporting Actress (Margot Robbie) and Best Hair & Make-Up. It deserves all three but, conceivably, was overlooked in the Best Original Screenplay stakes. Randolph’s dialogue crackles and his characters occasionally ‘break the fourth wall’ to speak directly to the audience, a device that works well here. Of Kayla Pospisil, Randolph explains that, “Kayla is the emotional centre of our story - someone we identify with as she experiences harassment. Kayla’s is the story we least often hear: the story of the woman who gives in to a harasser, and what that means to her life. I didn’t want to put that burden on a real person, so I made that character fictional.” He continues, “Megyn is the film’s narrative centre. She is our Dante, who takes us deep into this world. Gretchen is the moral centre in that she frames the issue and makes the most heroic choice.” Telling the story from these three different viewpoints is highly satisfying because it helps us to understand how men in power have been able to get away with such despicable behaviour for so long.
Bombshell is a story of its time (which has also been told recently in the streaming series The Loudest Voice, for which Russell Crowe won a Golden Globe for his blistering portrayal of Ailes). See it for the extraordinary lead cast, plus some spot-on supporting performances from Allison Janney, Kate McKinnon, Connie Britton and Malcolm McDowell (who nails Rupert Murdoch), and for the power of its sensational screenplay.