Bombshell: A Polished Surface-Level Satire

Bombshell Review

I never expected The Big Short to have the immediate stylistic influence that it did. The critically-acclaimed turn for comedy director Adam McKay allowed him to take a satirical approach to a very dense and damning subject matter. Two years later, Craig Gillespie would take a similar approach to his retelling of the Tonya Harding story, I, Tonya. McKay went back to the well with Vice (2018), with much more mixed results. Now, Jay Roach (Austin Powers trilogy, The Campaign, Trumbo) offers his own attempt at a biting political satire based around real events in the form of Bombshell.

Bombshell centers around three primary women: Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron), Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman), and the composite character Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie). It chronicles Carlson’s 2016 sexual harassment lawsuit against former CEO and founder Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) through Kelly’s eyes.

The movie on the whole is a mixed bag. The messaging is important. We need to hold predators accountable and punish their bad behavior. But, the delivery of the message is half-hazard.

Using a series of flashy narrative and visual techniques, McKay attempts to pull together a meta satire with an attitude. The film opens with Kelly breaking the fourth wall and giving a documentary-style tour of the Fox News offices. This sequence establishes the film’s single camera feel giving it the look and feel of a prime time comedy. To be fair, it has a snappy, sharp look.

It also has a stellar cast led by three strong performances from Theron, Kidman, and Robbie. Theron disappears into her role as she continues to prove herself as one of the most interesting actors working. Robbie’s composite is a good conservative girl looking to quickly rise through the ranks at the network. Kidman’s limited-yet-vital role is played with a quiet, coy precision that won’t be spoken about as much as her co-stars. The film is rounded out by a who’s who of comedian and character actors including Malcolm McDowell, Connie Britton, Rob Delaney, Mark Duplass, Allison Janney, Alice Eve, Richard Kind, Kate McKinnon, and more, including the film’s big bad portrayed by Lithgow. John Lithgow is a wonderful actor, and has played a number of villainous roles over the years. But, his performance here is hindered by many of the same shortcomings the rest of the film lacks: depth.

Everything about Bombshell is surface level. It never explores and digs into any of the characters or elements that would truly take it to a higher plane of commentary or examination. It’s all bark and no bite. A thread of interesting character development between McKinnon’s closeted Jess Car and Robbie’s Kayla never goes anywhere. Gretchen sets off the narrative conflicts and doesn’t get to do much else. It’s Theron’s movie for better and worse, but even so, we don’t do much of a surface dive with Megyn’s character either. It alludes to some of her controversial statements and her interactions with Trump on the campaign trail, but never explores any of the whys.

In its attempts to discuss a very heavy topic through a satirical lens, Bombshell suffers tonally. When Kayla and Megyn finally have a confrontational scene towards the end of the film, it handles their character much differently than anything else we’ve seen in the film—it’s jarring. It also fails to buy-in to its own stylistic choices, giving up the faux documentary/fourth wall breaks until the closing moments.

Ultimately, Bombshell offers some interesting, and at times very good moments, highlighted by dynamic performances. As a history lesson, it offers a retelling of events for those who aren’t familiar. As an exploration into the deeper workings or ramifications, it falters heartily.

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