Bombshell

In a week where Harvey Weinstein is in court, Bombshell looks at another sexual harrasment case that filed against Fox News head Roger Ailes in 2016.

Like many films focusing on the abuse of power much of it is spent in astonishment at how this was allowed to happen almost unquestioned and how this environment thrived not 25 years ago but in 2016.

The story is a powerful and complex one and there lies the films criticism, narrativly it is a bit of a mess, the film moves very swiftly through it’s timeline and bounces quickly between character arcs and to a non US audience this was a little confusing as we try to keep up with who’s who and what their part in the story is.

That said, there is much to enjoy in a range of excellent performances. John Lithgow does a great job of balancing Roger Aimes, it would have been easy to have him portrayed as nothing more than a lecherous pervert, but he shows a man who believes he is championing womens careers and always quick to help, support or advise.

But as with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Margot Robbie steals the show portraying a women who starts as ambitious and naive to the abused victim who eventually refuses to be defined by it, one scene in particular were her innocence is lost is brilliantly played as she fully displays the horror of the realisation of what is happening.

Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman provide excellent central performances meaning a film with some narrative flaws is compensated by quality performances across it.

By no means perfect but for all the narrative holes, the performances more than make it worth a watch.