Movie Review: Bombshell

Credit: Bombshell

It’s tough to comment on this movie from a male perspective without sounding like a jerk or like someone that might be wondering why women don’t come forward when they’ve been harassed or abused. There are plenty of reasons why women don’t stand up and shout out their abuse to the heavens while pointing the finger at their abuser, but it doesn’t make the matter any less frustrating when it happens years later, and the excuse is that they wanted to get ahead and make something of themselves. Even that’s hard to argue against since there are men out there that treat women so horribly that it becomes very easy for ladies to look at any man and wonder if they’re going to get the same treatment. Bombshell is one of those movies that a person tends to watch for entertainment, so long as they don’t have to think about the real-life scandal that took place and made this movie possible. The fact is that men shouldn’t be embarrassed to be men after watching this and if any guy does then he might have a guilty conscience to fix later on. 

Credit: Bombshell

If all that was said and done in this movie is even close to accurate, then some of the characters were absolutely horrible. 

It’s a credit to John Lithgow’s performance since it’s very easy not to like the dramatized version of Roger Ailes since he’s temperamental, shifty, and definitely doesn’t like being inconvenienced. This is a man that comes off as a great person to a lot of folks since he’s done so much for Fox, but at the same time, he’s not someone that people want anything to do with if they can avoid it at times. The sexual harassment suits that he was subjected to in real life are enough to set a person’s teeth on edge since his denials make a person wonder how far he was willing to until he was cut loose, and what kind of a person would do half of the stuff that the women who accused him spoke of in their own good time. But without blaming the victims, it’s very tough to like the other characters in this story as well since the manner in which they were portrayed didn’t paint any of them in a great light. 

The real-life story was bad enough, but as usual, Hollywood makes it feel so much worse. 

It’s tough to say whether the dramatized version of events really made things appear worse, or if they highlighted the actual drama that was going on during this time since it’s tough to say what was really going on in the Fox offices, and what was really being said. It’s fair to state that the movie probably managed to get a good deal of it right, especially since it would likely ruffle as few feathers as possible. But when all was said and done it’s still enough to wonder what really happened and what was built up for the movie. One thing about a story that’s based around real events is that there’s always going to be something that’s not quite accurate and is there to increase the drama. 

Credit: Bombshell

It’s not hard to see why this was turned into a movie, but it’s still not the greatest scandal that’s ever been dramatized. 

A lot of people have remarked that this movie was something that could be enjoyed and even seen as something that needed to be filmed, but after the credits started to roll it was very forgettable and wouldn’t be the strongest memory that a person would hold. That’s rather accurate since a lot of people likely recall the details of this scandal and how they might have kept one eye on what was going on while trying to get through their average day. To be fair, it was a big deal for those involved, and some would reason that it might have far-reaching effects, but at the same time, it’s the story of those who were directly affected, and it wasn’t bound to travel that far because it had a very personal feel to it when the matter was brought down to those who were being harassed and who was doing the harassing. 

Let’s get this straight, no one deserves this type of treatment, plain and simple.

That’s one message that was easy to take from the scandal and this movie, that no one deserves this kind of treatment at work. The rest of the movie was a lot of drama that served a point but didn’t make this movie stand out that much. It’s tough to say that, but it’s true since as far as the performances of the cast go, they were good, and they fit the story that was being retold, but it’s still something that a person could take or leave.