"Bombshell" tells the story of how Roger Ailes, the longtime head of Fox News, was brought down after Gretchen Carlson sued him for sexism and harassment. It opened Thursday in theaters.
Here's how various people viewed the movie, starring Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly, Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson and Margot Robbie as a fictitious character, Kayla. it's directed by Jay Roach.
Jill Filipovic for CNN
"The women of 'Bombshell' are as steely as they're gorgeous. They're also enablers of an equivalent misogynist culture they protest.
The film pokes at this uncomfortable truth and, refreshingly, doesn't whitewash Fox's ugliness. Ailes's on-screen harassment of Kayla is especially painful, and Margot Robbie's excruciating rendering of how sex, power and humiliation all tie together is one among the film's most horrifying — and important — moments."
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times
"...Something went wrong on the thanks to “Bombshell,” and far of it's Charles Randolph’s cutesy screenplay, which features multiple voice-overs commenting on the action — which unfolds at a quick, cartoony pace more suitable to a dark comedy. (This would be fine if that was what “Bombshell” began to be, but it isn’t particularly funny.) Roach gives it the ugly flatness of a not-too-expensive television movie — and, worse, seems to possess little interest within the three women at the story’s center."
Manohla Dargis, The ny Times
"Here’s the thing about sexism: It doesn’t discriminate. It’s an civil right prejudice that cuts across history, culture, political affiliation. “Bombshell” gets this. And a part of what works within the movie is that it does an honest job of presenting the standard assaults that ladies, even those with great privilege, can endure simply to urge through each day, including dehumanizing “compliments.” When Megyn walks through the network as men size her up, she doesn’t break stride. She keeps marching. She’s a warrior and Theron causes you to believe that together with her ramrod posture and absolute assurance, Megyn could lead on a military or even a rebellion, if she chose."
Caryn James, BBC News
"Bombshell assumes the women’s point of view and is entirely sympathetic to them. Yet it's also clear-eyed about the difficult choices between self-interest and doing the proper thing, and about the compromises people bring the sake of ambition. With layered performances from Charlize Theron as Kelly, tough inside and out, and Nicole Kidman as Carlson, whose soft demeanor masks stubborn determination, Bombshell is one among the primary features to grapple with #MeToo in nuanced terms, allowing its heroines to be flawed."
Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post
“Bombshell” is crisp, lucid and pacey, not just when it's revisiting Kelly's showdown with Trump and Carlson's harassment suit against Ailes, but when it's describing the Fox News formula to captivate older viewers: “frighten-titillate, frighten-titillate.” A scene within the women's room — where a bevy of mostly blonde newscasters choose among a regimented array of form-fitting sheath dresses and spike-heeled shoes — plays less like something out of “Broadcast News” than “The Stepford Wives.”