Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Bombshell (2019)

This is topic Bombshell (2019) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=002465

Posted by Mark Ogden (Member # 43) on 12-24-2019, 07:55 PM:

At the Bow Tie Clairidge Cinemas, Montclair, New Jersey

*****

I can tell you from the inside that the network television industry has always been populated by sexually predatory alpha-male asshats, but probably the single biggest offender was Fox News founder and former president Roger Ailes, a true degenerate who hired female anchors based on their willingness to perform sexual favors, and who then styled them as short-skirted, heavily made up blonds that he would place behind transparent anchor desks to show off their legs. “To get ahead, you have to give head,” was one of his favorite sayings.

This behavior went on for years, but in the Spring of 2016 he demoted anchor Gretchen Carlson after her repeated refusal to sleep with him. He wasn’t aware, though, that Carlson was recording their meetings, and she wound up suing him for sexual harassment, a move that caused a crisis of conscience for fellow anchor Megyn Kelly. Kelly was herself a victim of Ailes and had recently made his shit-list for harshly questioning Donald Trump at a Republican debate. She was also very well aware of an industry maxim about Fox News: once you’re done there, you’re done in television. Kelly wouldn’t throw in with Carlson until twenty-three other women came forward, after which she joined the suit which got Ailes dismissed.

Bombshell is an intense, fast moving and highly accurate film about this business. The story is told from Kelly’s perspective as she tries to sort out what to do about the degradation unfolding around her, in an amusing twist she also describes to the camera the day to day depravity at Fox. Charlize Theron nails the part and John Lithgow in heavy prosthetic make-up is convincing as Ailes. Because I worked with Carlson for many years before her time at Fox, I didn’t totally buy Kidman’s performance, but she does fine. It’s a movie that is infuriating to watch, there were repeated groans from the audience at what Ailes subjected these women to, and at how some of his inner circle rallied around him, including others in FNC management who also saw no problem with helping themselves to female employees. Also, if you are a fan of "Judge" Jeanine Pirro, you may be less so after this. I recommend it.