Bombshell

It takes courage to place this true story before the public at this time of the political climate during debates by presidential candidates and retorts from the sitting president who is famous for his association with Fox News. Charles Randolph (The Big Short, and The Life of David Gale) has written a penetrating screenplay about the 2016 explosion when Fox News persona Roger Ailes was finally exposed for sexual harassment by some courageous women. Director Jay Roach (Trumbo, Blown Away, Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery, etc) makes this story come vividly to life, unafraid to insert film clips of Donald Trump's appearances as the case unfolds, as well as including the lesbian relationships that give the story a new grounding.

The story of this Fox News scandal is true, so everyone knows the outline. As one distillation states, 'When Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) slaps Fox News founder Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) with a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, not a soul could predict what would happen next. Her decision leads to Fox News correspondent Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron) coming forward with her own story, as well as multiple other women, such as Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie), inciting a movement that reverberates around the world.'

The cast is outstanding: Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie each excel, but the other women in the film - Allison Janney, Connie Britton, Liv Hewson, Kate McKinnon, and Brigette Lundy-Paine - also impress. John Lithgow is very appropriately repugnant as Roger Ailes, as is Malcolm McDowell as Rupert Murdoch, and the clips of Giuliani, Trump et al. The tension never lets up as this scandal is related in fine form. Not only is the film excellent (though some may prefer the Showtime series THE LOUDEST VOICE account of the scandal), but also it offers award winning quality performances that allow the actors to step into different territories.

Despite a couple of Oscar nominations for acting, "Bombshell" was greeted pretty indifferently by audiences and critics alike when it came out last year. Perhaps it was due to my low expectations, then, but I was surprised by how much I liked this movie. It's slick and glib and fairly superficial, but it's extremely watchable and very entertaining, and the acting is indeed exceptional. Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie were singled out for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress nominations, respectively. But I was as impressed with Nicole Kidman and John Lithgow.

In this tale of women coming out against sexual harassment, "Bombshell" conveniently sidesteps the fact that these particular women were contributing to an atmosphere of male toxicity by peddling Fox News' message in the first place. But to address that would have been to make the entire screenplay more complex, and it would have interfered with the filmmakers' wish to portray these women as unequivocal heroes of the MeToo Movement.

The makeup crew for this film worked over time to transform attractive Hollywood actors and actresses into already attractive people like Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson, and not so attractive people like Roger Ailes and a spot-on Bill O'Reilly, and won an Oscar for their efforts.

Grade: B+

We have been in a.period of change for some time, and it has taken some very brave women to stand up, make a stand and say enough is enough.

I watched this a few days ago, and borrowed it from a friend, who happens to be a feminist, she surprisingly didn't like it, stating that she felt they had added too much to the story to make it a little sensational, thus demeaning the film.

Personally I quite liked it, an interesting, relevant story of course, the acting on the whole was pretty good, I thought Theron was the standout.

It's definitely not a movie I would ever want to watch again, but I thought it was pretty good. 7/10.

Excellent acting and makeup transformed actors to real life people they portrayed. Interesting take on the fox news scandal. Mix of movie made news with real news was awesome.

I didn't know much on this story when it all happened, possibly cause I'm based in Australia and it was an American scandal, but the whole story is so powerful and should be shared across the globe.

When Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) is let go from her job at Fox News, she sues the CEO, Roger Ailes (John Lithgow), for sexual harassment. Going up against a powerful man in a even more powerful company, Gretchen seeks help from other female employees to come forward and speak up and make an end to this man.

I really enjoyed this film, but felt I could've enjoyed it even more if I knew more about the story when it was happening. In saying that, it didn't make the film confusing or bad in any form. It's a powerful story that needs to be shared for how woman can be treated in the workplace and hopefully spreads the message that inappropriate sexual behaviour is never acceptable and should be spoken up about.

Nicole, Charlize and Margot were all so damn good in this film. Three incredible ladies. I would've liked to have seen a bit more on Margot's character, but I then learnt after that her character isn't part of the real life scandal.

This is a great movie to start off the new year.