The far too low confidence in the power of illusion has cut many biopics and reality-based films to the brink. All this silicone that completely unnecessarily reshapes the faces of famous actors to make them look like their real model. Like Meryl Streep's turkey hanging in Iron Lady, Leo Di Caprio's Jabba the hut-sweep in the movie about J Edgar Hoover, Nicole Kidman's loose nose in the hours, and now the same actor's loose hook that should probably be considered to help us believe that she plays the news anchor Gretchen Carlson.
Well, you get used to the unnatural protrusion of her face, and sure; After all, it is a movie that takes up more important things than that. Specifically, how Gretchen Carlson 2016 sued Fox News boss Roger Ailes for sexual abuse, and can thus be said to have laid the foundation for the entire metoo movement.
Roger Aile's terrorist regime on Rupert Murdoch's heavily right-wing news channel Fox News was portrayed with great emphasis in the HBO series The Loudest Voice (where Russell Crowe had put on the Fat Suite to emulate Ailes), but here comes Hollywood's own rendition with three big stars in starring, besides Kidman also Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie. The first two play real people (Carlson and Megyn Kelly) while Robbie's role figure is a compilation of many different women who have been victimized by the manager's ills.
Bombshell is a hilarious and somewhat engaging drama, neat and well-played, but at the same time somewhat non-dynamic. The subject is both strong and topical, yet the film runs through the mind without leaving noticeable traces. Especially because Bombshell is so damn conventional - and undramatically - told.
We know how it goes and the road to it is more explanatory than well dramatized. The villain is one with big S (John Lithgow), the heroes straight-backed and Carlson's / Kidman's narrative friendly but firmly controlling.
The final clip, where she urges us to raise our voices if we see something irregular, is good social-political, but considering the film's grip is a bit plump, the whole establishment gives an air of martial arts that does not offer the audience any dilemma.
But Ailes was so much more than just a sexist pig, he was also a powerful Republican who, with "his" TV channel, helped Donald Trump to the highest position, and thus helped to change the global political premise. Sure, Bombshell addresses those circumstances, to some extent, but focuses on his writing. Which is understandable, the movie story requires more focus, but it still makes the story feel a bit poor and the chop next to the better version, The loudest voice, which is still in fresh memory.
If you want a little more nuance in the metoo swamp of American TV companies, you can look up the Apple + series The morning show. It is also a big-budget production with many stars (Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston) that is surprisingly multifaceted. Because it is pure fiction, the series creators can take the flings of the conflict a bit more without bumping into anyone, and perhaps above all: without exposing themselves to the risk of being sued.
It also means that no one is forced to wear a loose chin.