Bombshell

It's been four years since The Big Short came out. The film's co-writer, Charles Randolph, goes solo for his follow-up, Bombshell. As realized by director Jay Roach, it's an angry satire much like that earlier film. It's not that entertaining. But is it any good? Let's see.

In 2015, Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron) and Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) are two of the top anchors on Fox News. Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie) is an ambitious young staffer. All three women attract the unwanted attention of the man upstairs, Roger Ailes (John Lithgow). The channel's toxic work environment drowns their concerns. At least, until Gretchen gets fired and later sues Ailes for harassment. This inspires Megyn and Kayla to come forward with their own accusations. They're not the only ones.

I think I summed up the movie.

The film starts with Megyn giving the audience a tour of Fox News headquarters. She, Gretchen and Kayla narrate some story points. We get some characters voicing their inner thoughts. But the wacky fourth-wall breaking dims once the story gets going.

Kayla deals the most with Ailes's unwanted attention; it culminates in a protracted and disturbing meeting with Ailes. Until the lawsuit hits, much of Megyn's part deals with the fallout of that infamous 2015 debate. We understand her frustrations as she deals with trolls and Ailes. The same goes for Gretchen even as the film somewhat sidelines her. There's still some humor as the film mocks the toxic work environment of Fox News, but we're often too outraged to laugh. I'm sure that's the point, but it often succeeds too well.

There's a great cast here. Theron, Kidman and Robbie make their characters likable and sympathetic people. Theron and Kidman pull off pitch-perfect impersonations of their characters. Robbie, whose character is a fictional composite, gets a good character arc as she stands up to the "system." One embodiment of the system is, of course, Lithgow as Ailes. He's patronizing at best and a short-tempered and creepy old man at worst. It helps that there's a great makeup team headed by Kazu Hiro (the same Kazuhiro Tsuji who made Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill). We also get some eerily convincing impersonations of Rudy Giuliani (Richard Kind), Bill O'Reilly (Kevin Dorff) and Rupert Murdoch (Malcolm McDowell).

Some reviews say that Bombshell's satire isn't that sharp. But I think it got the basic point. Even if one disagrees with Fox News's politics, they'll understand there's nothing justified in harassment. Still, the tonal whiplash is sure to throw its audience off its feet. Just keep that in mind if you decide to see it. It's OK to see at least once. You decide ... if you want to see it twice or more.