Failure to Explode

The downfall of former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes as a result of sexual harassment allegations is the subject of ‘Bombshell,’ the latest movie from comedy director Jay Roach (‘Austin Powers,’ ‘Meet the Parents,’ ‘Dinner for Schmucks’).  Despite the star power and veritable bombshells featured in the film including Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie and Nicole Kidman, ‘Bombshell’ failed to go off at the box office in our climate of anti-media cynicism and political divisiveness, notwithstanding its “feminist” message.

 

Long before Harvey Weinstein was laid (no pun intended) low for his misdeeds against women, Ailes (played by John Lithgow in this movie) found himself under fire from sexual harassment allegations by various Fox-y newswomen, chief among them Gretchen Carlson (Kidman) and Megyn Kelly (Theron).  ‘Bombshell’ tells the story of how a deeply suppressed “dirty little secret” finally emerged into the open and took on a momentum of its own, bringing down a remorseless predator who thought himself untouchable (metaphorically speaking, that is).

 

While ‘Bombshell’ is packed with cynical wit and behind-the-scenes fourth-wall breaking candor, its impact is somewhat diminished by the fact that Theron’s Kelly and Kidman’s Carlson failed to garner any sort of sympathy or empathy from the viewers.  The former is pragmatic to a fault, an office politics survivor who sat on the fence until the absolute last moment; the latter just came across as self-centered, petty and vindictive.  Indeed, the only character I found to be interesting or even remotely likeable is the fictional Kayla Popsicle, I mean Pospisil (Robbie), an “evangelical millennial” whose character is based on a composite of all the other women who spoke out against Ailes.  It’s no mean feat that ‘Bombshell’ manages to provide both CNN and MSNBC-following liberals and FOX‑watching Trump-supporters something to agree on and dislike.
 
Grade: C