Bombshell: My Review

Bombshell: (*****5 stars of 5)

We were lucky at the Napa Valley Film Festival to see a special Sneak Peek showing of Bombshell, starring Charlise Theron and Nicole Kidman. It is another take on the Roger Ailes story, based loosely on the story of the tremendous fall from grace of the head of Fox News. Watching the bullying and lecherous actions of Roger Ailes, portrayed by John Lithgow, as he uses his power to blackmail female reporters into sexual acts, is like watching a car wreck… you want to help the vulnerable prey but you can only sit in your theater chair and watch the gore. Charlize Theron takes on the role of Megyn Kelly, the anchor, famous for getting into trouble with Fox and and viewers, when she confronts candidate Trump with a difficult question about women and he retaliates with full force. Megyn breaks the third wall by narrating the events to us, giving us some inside information, as she herself has to decide if she is willing to risk her own job as anchor. Does she come forward against Ailes, who is responsible for giving her the coveted job, or does she ally herself with a discredited colleague, Gretchen Carlson, (Nicole Kidman) who is suing Ailes? In addition to the on-screen drama of these two established anchors, we get wrapped up in the story of a young, beautiful and eager reporter, played by Margot Robbie, who is ambitious and hoping to be noticed and promoted, and ends up meeting Ailes…the poor girl is like a defenseless lamb who finds herself in the office of a hungry wolf. This movie is fast paced with plenty of action and fast dialogue. I think it will do very well in the theaters when it is released for the Christmas holidays.