Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Theater review. Possible spoilers. Director Jay Roach might not seem like the director for an expose like this given his resume (Austin Powers movies, Meet the Fockers, Dinner for Schmucks) but he pulls it off. Some of the credit would seem to go to writer Charles Randolph who was responsible for “The Big Short.” This film has much of that style. That is narration, superimposed facts, etc. The film is focused on Roger Ailes (excellent John Lithgow in a fat suit and heavy facial makeup) who single handedly put Fox News on the television map. His marketing acumen may have been successful but he also left a bevy of female staffers humiliated at best and sexually assaulted at worst. There are 3 women at the center of the story. Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) is the first to bring Ailes’ misdeeds to light. She had gone from a rising star on the Fox morning show to a less visable host in a late afternoon time slot. Why? She had shunned Ailes’ sexual advances. She leaves the network fairly early in the movie and sues Ailes personally. In an award-worthy performance, Charlize Theron plays Megyn Kelly who remains at the network but is under scrutiny because of the 2016 presidential debate where she asks candidate Donald Trump about his treatment of women in the past. Ailes and indeed Fox were backers of Trump and were stunned by the question. Kelly suffered the consequences for a long time and later acknowledged Alies had come on to her earlier in her career. The third woman is Kayla Pospisil (Margo Robbie). Kayla is an amalgam of actual women at Fox over the years. She’s highly supportive of the network and Ailes from the beginning. She is also hungry for advancement and manages to get Ailes’ attention. In a scene that had most of the audience squirming in their seats, Ailes auditions Kayla by modeling in front of him. He urges her to keep hiking up her skirt in order to see her legs – “It’s a visual medium he suggests.” All the women are great. Theron in particular captures not only the look of Kelly but the slightly arrogant and aloof physical persona. It’s an amazing transformation. If “Bombshell” can be criticized it would be because the film doesn’t go very deep into the workings of Fox. We get a surface view as the attention is on Ailes, less so on the network or his boss, Rupert Murdoch (Malcolm McDowell). In small but interesting roles, Kate McKinnon shows up as a closeted lesbian producer and confidant of Kayla’s. Connie Britton plays Ailes wife Beth, a supporter of her husband until a startling scene in the final act. Mark Duplass plays Kelly’s husband Doug Brunt and Allison Janney is Susan Estrich, Ailes lawyer. In spite of the content, this is a fast moving, highly entertaining and important film. Highly recommended.