I'm of the opinion that there is a pornography for every emotion, and to not feign subtlety I'll get this out of the way: Bombshell is a form of pornography. Pornography isn't inherently bad (although one could argue that in all of its forms, including my much looser definition, there is a trend of bad things in it), and so things called pornography shouldn't be totally disregarded. What pornography is, in my more broad sense of the word, is a piece of media meant to illicit an emotional reaction for that emotion's sake, without much in the way of depth, purpose, or provocative thought. Sappy family films whose message rests on "family is great" could be considered a type of pornography by this definition, as could Oscar Bait films. My use of the word "pornography" may seem a bit outlandish, and in a sense it is, but dividing media from those that aspire towards depth and those meant to provide an easy access to a certain emotion is an important one, especially as the latter is usually criticized when it needn't be. Pornography has its place, being a functional piece of media, a need for a particular button to be pushed rather than a complex question as to what the button is for. Bombshell's pornography is frustrating because of how it could have been something more, how it could have served a more broad purpose (and more than one, at that) but didn't. It thought that its very existence was enough, that the events depicted would serve as significant when more than anything all it did was reinforce the emotions of those who agreed with it.
Bombshell follows the true story about the women who sued Fox News head Roger Ailes, which eventually ousted him from the company. Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron in a magnificent performance and some top notch makeup), Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman), and the fictional Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie) have all been sexually harassed by Roger Ailes at some point or another. After Gretchen Carlson senses the company pushing her out, she decides the time is right to strike with a lawsuit. Megyn Kelly, who has been in the middle of a feud with Donald Trump over his overt sexist comments and references to sexual assault (causing severe backlash within Fox), struggles with potentially coming forward with her story, worried that if she and Gretchen are the only ones who do that the case will disappear and they will have ruined their careers. Margot Robbie's character we will get to later.
The pieces are all there. The performances are great, the subject is interesting - showing us, at least to some degree, the belly of the beast that is Fox News - but the movie plays out somewhat limply. Part of this has to do with the obvious influence from The Big Short. The films share the same screenwriter, but the execution could not be more different. Whereas The Big Short had this hard boiled, fast paced energy to it - confident, funny, and insightful direction from Adam McKay - Bombshell seems to flounder. The ideas are present, but they are executed without much confidence. Early scenes where Charlize Theron is walking around the Fox News office narrating feels forced, as though they were hoping a stylistic identity would stick, but there isn't enough energy between the direction and editing to make it work. Likewise, the film threads in the occasional narration from our three leads, and while at the beginning it makes sense to set the scene, it becomes a sort of distraction as the film goes on and we are present in the drama unfolding. From a directorial standpoint, the film just feels messy unless it is in talking head mode, with two characters discussing a thing and arguing.
But even if it had worked stylistically, there's an issue with the dramatic execution of the greater narrative. The characters and the actors playing them get good dramatic scenes themselves - every one of them, at least once, with Theron getting the best and most consistent throughout - but the thematic side feels like it is striking the wrong chords. The film has this want to be about female empowerment, or, at the very least, three women who fight back against a disgustingly toxic, masculine culture and the complexities of doing that, but more often than not it rests on what Roger Ailes did in private. And while that is certainly the meatiest, most damning bit of sexual harassment in the film, the only people watching this movie to feel that sort of catharsis are the same types of people that simply want a hit of that good "Fox makes fools of themselves" shit. It is a liberal keybump more than it is something substantial and provocative. It's a narrative with a bad guy and the movie beelines for that bad guy once we reach the mid point. My favorite parts of the movie were generally early on, when the atmosphere of Fox News was being explored. The complex ways in which women were not only silenced, but essentially manipulated into supporting such an oppressive atmosphere was interesting and infuriating. It felt like a pocket kingdom hiding away from the modern world, and yet it just makes so much sense. The film is, obviously, about the shocking lawsuit filed in 2016, and as such that should be the driving force of the film, but by the latter half, as the rest of the complexity of the setting is falling away, the plot about taking down Roger Ailes is looking so obviously inevitable as to lose all dramatic tension.
What is the arch for any of these characters, anyway? Charlize Theron gets the most, as she is combating standing up for herself vs playing the political game required of her from her job, making her plotline the most interesting. But Nicole Kidman's conflict past the first act is more or less the threat of Roger Ailes smearing her publicly (a real concern, but not one properly felt within the film). Margot Robbie's character is the worst of all, meant as an amalgamation of all the other women who came forward. Margot Robbie's character feels like a fake character, with cartoonish characteristics and backstory, thinly plotted scenes (crazy conservative straight blonde lady working at Fox News sleeps with closeted lesbian liberal coworker? Really?), and, outside of her assault, next to no tension throughout the film. Margot Robbie exists to hold the sexual assault Roger Ailes was accused of, but it feels disserviced in a fictional character. Her assault is squirm inducing, don't get me wrong, but putting the dramatic weight of trauma onto someone who is plainly not real deflates the literally real story happening all around her. To a certain degree this makes sense, as everyone involved in the lawsuit signed an NDA during the settlement, but it makes the events feel loose when they should feel strict. The Big Short, the film Bombshell wants so hard to be, is a good example of what this film needed: serious, grounded facts that don't push the drama, but instead put the drama of the film into a realistic context.
Bombshell is, for sure, an entertaining film. It breezes by easily enough and watching these women's performances is worth the price of admission, but that doesn't make it a necessarily good movie. What it is is confirmation for those who want to see Fox News depicted badly, who want that cathartic bump of satisfaction as the master manipulators who have had one of the most influential hands in fucking up this country get some just desserts. But here is the thing about that: isn't that the dynamic Fox News has always thrived on? Make the bad guys look really bad, and give you the catharsis of hate? There is an underlying pettiness in the emotional payoff from watching this film, and sure, it aligns with my beliefs, but I don't need anyone encouraging me to hate. What I need is stories about problems, about issues that need thinking about, and people that need caring about.
6.0
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