A timely slice of sensational cinema, Bombshell, has come home on Blu-Ray, DVD and digital download formats. An all-star cast comes together with an astutely perfect director to tell the story of the scandal at Fox News that many thought would be the downfall of the cable news ratings leader. Now, it did not achieve that. What did occur was several prominent network employees bravely came forward and claimed to have experienced inappropriate sexual behavior by Roger Ailes that would alter the news business and our culture at large. Worse still, all three journalists reported a corporate culture that pushes aside such things at the most … and at the least completely ignore its scourge.
Bombshell finds Charlize Theron, who earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, starring as Megyn Kelly. Nicole Kidman is Gretchen Carlson and fellow Oscar nominee for the film, Margot Robbie, is Kayla Pospisil. The latter is an up and coming, starry-eyed, journo whose experience with Ailes will make you want to immediately take a shower to clean off the filth.
An Oscar nomination also went to Makeup and Hairstyling (they won, deservedly so!) and it is a marvel that pushes the envelope of what was previously possible in characterization. The thing is, before Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker came along, compared to what they achieved in Bombshell, asking an actor to completely physically transform themselves was akin to getting plastic surgery! That is the seismic alteration that was achieved with the hair and makeup team of director Jay Roach’s flick, particularly with Theron as Kelly. The previous Oscar winner embodied the anchor who became part of the story during the 2016 presidential campaign when then candidate Donald Trump mentioned something about her menstrual cycle! Yeah, that. She was also under immense pressure, as portrayed in the film, to engage with candidate Trump. Rule number one in journalism classes was always to not let yourself become part of the story. That is exactly what was happening to Kelly. She didn’t get the support she needed from the Fox brass and that is impeccably captured in Roach’s fine work.
Kidman is equally as transcendent as Carlson. What is so striking is that these women were continually committed to doing their job to the best of their ability. They did so, despite being continually harassed and demeaned, sometimes on the air! The way the actress captured that essence, particularly with her appearances on the network’s morning show, Fox and Friends, is uncanny. As the two men on either side of her tossed sexist remarks after sexist remarks, one could just see the pain in Kidman’s eyes and the manner in which she produced a put-upon, turned-up, smile that firmly showed that she was not having it. Worse still, she wasn’t sure what to do about it.
As we saw in the Bombshell trailer, the three women wind up on an elevator together heading to the same floor. They each keenly knew what that meant. These women shared much more than a desire to report the news to the highest of their abilities. They had each suffered under Ailes’ rule and why each collectively spoke up is immeasurably inspiring to witness.
One cannot imagine how many women were bolstered by the professional reporters of Fox News speaking up and how their brave words led to Ailes’ dismissal from the network he helped build.
Robbie is fantastic, as she always is, but what is so striking is that she earned the nod for Bombshell and not Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. This is neither here nor there for this review, but there was something about what she brought to Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece. She gave a rich human texture to a Tarantino movie that has never been there prior in such a tangible way. But I digress, back to Robbie. She does a fantastic job in Bombshell as serving as our entry into this world. She is, after all, the one who is just starting when she is being schooled about the ways of the Fox world by Kate McKinnon’s Jess Carr. There’s a wide-eyed innocence there that is so painful to watch because we all know that at some point, Ailes is going to rear his disgusting head and turn a lifelong Fox News fan against the network. Witnessing Robbie, as she handles this utter decimation of one’s ingrained excitement is tragic, as it should be.
With Roach, viewers get a director who is going to deliver a story with his pointed and piercing political truths, as he did with the stunning 2000 election HBO movie, Recount. But he also is the helmer who gave us Meet the Parents and all three Austin Powers movies. This is a storyteller who keenly knows how to push the headline-inspired buttons that are important to this particular tale, but to lace it with the right dose of humor to keep the film entertaining while it still hits you over the head with its powerful themes.
One almost does not want to talk about Ailes. To not give “him” an inch of press. But leaving the network honcho out of anything related to Fox News, this film and the truth would be remiss. Most importantly, it would fail John Lithgow. The celebrated actor turns in another stellar performance that is immensely creepy, but never pushes it to the point that he becomes the focus of this tale. After all, this is the story of the Bombshell leveled by three women and not the subject of their ire. But thanks to Lithgow, that ire is earned.
When it comes to bonus features, there’s a seven-part making-of documentary that is worthy of the courage of the women at Fox News who stood up and were heard. Clocking in at just over 90 minutes, it delves deeply into the making of the film from a myriad of angles.
Of the seven No Easy Truths: The Making of Bombshell parts, I dove into Convergence: Genesis of the Film. The featurette answered one of my burning questions after witnessing the flick, how did this project even get off the ground? Too often featurettes on home video releases don’t address the simplest of inquiries, how this thing even got started? Kudos to Bombshell and Roach for finding the merit in such an inquiry. Next up, check out Quid Pro Quo: Charlize, Nicole, Margot, John. That stunning featurette explores the uncanny work that the fab four achieved, especially considering that many of them are household names, i.e. someone who audiences are keenly aware of.
Human Dynamics: The Ensemble Cast shines a spotlight on the rest of the cast and shows how there is literally no weak link in Bombshell. From top to bottom, all the thespians were impeccably committed to bringing this important story to life. Breaking the Fourth Wall: Visual Design explores exactly what you think it would, but also addresses how several characters do break that fourth wall and why that filmmaking method was utilized.
Layer by Layer: Makeup, Hair & Clothing spotlights that Oscar winning team and does a stellar job of showing off the painstaking effort that history will show was a game changer. For longtime fans (like myself) and those new to the work of the helmer, A Unique Skill Set: Jay Roach lets us in on his filmmaking methodology and why this particular story spoke to him and thus what it was about it that had him giving months upon months of his life to the project.
Lastly, Catalyst for Change: Parting Thoughts is
another featurette we’d like to see on more home video releases. How a film
should be remembered is a question I often ask filmmakers during junkets and
again, it’s awesome to see a bonus feature explore that element with the major
players. Film Grade: A-
Bonus Features: A