Bombshell

US Political dramas are always cannon fodder during awards season, every year there seems to be a new one making the headlines for potential nominations. Whilst we may have differed away from the style of All the Presidents Menand other classics, we’re in a documentary-style, comedy turned drama approach that has been evident ever since Adam McKay’s popular hit The Big Shortin 2015, a film that focused on the American housing crisis. Similar to how Adam McKay went from a notorious comedy director to serious political films, Jay Roach follows in his footsteps ditching the false teeth in Austin Powersfor false noses in Bombshell.

The films open up in 2015 during the Republican leader debates for the 2016 election. We are introduced to Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron), a popular news anchor for Fox News who has been instructed by her boss Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) to go hard on potential candidate Donald Trump during her questioning. Ailes believes Trump is not Republican material, with no cause for a fanbase, Kelly even remarking “he’ll never be president”, points now proven false five years later but it’s mention in the film doesn’t have an ironic or comedic effect that it may hope for, just a sign of laziness in reminding us how we all doubted his ability to persuade voters.

The comparisons to The Big Short are neither subtle nor expansive to what McKay introduced with his film. After we fade in from black, Kelly is walking round the newsroom floors of Fox News, mentioning how it works and the toxic behaviour it tolerates with women, lgbt+ or minorities. It’s very clearly trying to find its comedy within its fourth wall breaking, having characters like Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) stare at the camera with a throwaway line, that doesn’t remind us to laugh but instead reminding us that this is a re-enactment of a very serious event that happened recently. The silence is also deafening when you realise the context of this scene is Carlson talking to lawyers about the sexual harassment she endured at Fox News by her boss and the chain that has continued due to her silence being met with the promise of bonuses and leading anchor roles.

It’s also unsure on what its crucial point is to take away after watching this film. The first half is really a focus on Donald Trump and how average civilians can turn on an anchor that they love like Megyn Kelly because someone told her so. It shows the effect that one voice can have on so many others and how this is a very dangerous thing to give a President. The glaring problem here though is that we’ve known this for over four years and a film once again criticising Donald Trump and the way he handles his power is no longer satire at this point, it’s making a joke of a very serious problem that could reshape the way politics is played for future generations.

It then decides to dismiss this entirely and focus on the sexual harassment case of Roger Ailes, although Bombshelldecides not to dismiss him as an egotistical pig like you should do for any man that has committed the crimes that he has done. It even has one of his victims, Kelly; try to justify Ailes’ character by mentioning the good he’s done in his community, like giving full pay to employees with terminal cancer or helping them pay hospital debts. Deeds that seem great in any community but not when it’s about a man who’s sitting on a mountain of money, Scrooge McDuck style and is also probably placing these good deeds on his expenses.

The critique of Fox News is continuous, making the channel appear like a cult that once you join you can never get out. Either because you’re a part of the propaganda train or that no other channel or outlet will employ you because a C.V. with Fox News is like a criminal record in the world of journalism. Points that seem obvious to the Hollywood-perspective of the world until you realise that millions of people rely and consume only on Rupert Murdoch-owned content and that they see this channel as gospel.

The film ultimately fails due to its focus on pandering to a global audience rather than taking a stand for what it sides to. Every film is political, every film has a clear and distinct message and it is utterly forgivable for a bio-political film to have no backbone whatsoever.