Bombshell

Hmm, this is an odd to talk about. It bares a striking resemblance to the likes of Vice in which complicated, thorny material is presented with a degree of insouciance that is perhaps at odds with itself. Satire is all well and good but treating a glimpse behind the curtain with buffoonery may be a bridge too far when the story being told is that of sexual assault survivors reclaiming their power to take down the monster.

Yes, even if the subject matter revolves around (groan) Fox News. It seems easy to take pot shots at that institution and their ability to distort and reframe every argument as an aggrievement or political spin for conservatism, but Bombshell always does. Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron, nearly unrecognizable) begins with a direct address to camera that explains how the sausage is made and who the main players are in short order.

If that didn’t clue you in, then Kate McKinnon’s liberal-in-hiding does a quick debrief that the facts don’t matter, and everything is pitched to stoke resentment and anger. Nearly every scene, no matter how serious, is deflated by a joke. The notable exceptions are the ones that stick with you for their encroaching dread and ability to empathize with the characters. Yes, the scene where Margot Robbie’s true believer gets demeaned by Roger Ailes (John Lithgow, scary good) is disturbing, but just as good as the one where Robbie’s low-level victim punches up at Kelly.

Bombshell needed more of these moments instead of so much insider gossip. There are fraught issues at play here that have plagued and divided the national psyche in the wake of 2016, in no small part to Fox News’ kowtowing and playing the eternal victim. This film is not interested in even looking that deeply at the material when it could more easily have scenes of its on-screen talent in-fighting and forcing pledges of allegiance to Ailes. There was enough room for both, but one of them would require deeper introspection.

Ailes is an easy figure to root against on paper, but Lithgow’s performance complicates that narrative by peeling back the layers to reveal the insecurity empowering his monstrous actions. We never sympathize with him, but Lithgow manages to puncture the more politely bemused concern with rage. A similar thing happens with Robbie’s hodgepodge creation, a composite character made-up of numerous disposable blondes, as we watch her go from wide-eye faithful to someone losing their religion.

As it is, the film is too jovial and remote too often for it to really treat its subject matter with the depth it deserves. For every scene like the one involving Kelly, Gretchen Carlson, and Robbie’s intern going on a tense elevator ride while the threat of sexual violence slowly increases there’s another where walk-ons of actors approximating Sean Hannity or Bill O’Reilly to drop sexist, clueless broadsides that render Fox News not a repressive, suffocating environment but like a very special episode of The Office.