Before the credits fade, Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron) is reporting on Ivana Trump’s allegations of rape against her husband. So much for fair and balanced coverage — which in the case of Trump-bashing, wouldn’t be bad. But like Roger Ailes (John Lithgow), the lecherous architect of the cable news channel at the center of the picture, Bombshell is more interested in parading Xeroxed pulchritude past the camera than it is in getting at the truth. (The only award this deserves is for the makeup artist who every day fit Theron with prosthetic eyelids.) As if dramatizing the sexual humiliation endured by Kelly and Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) weren’t enough, screenwriter Charles Randolph (The Big Short) feels compelled to create Kayla Pospisil, a fictional composite of several Fox employees brought to the screen by flavor of the year Margot Robbie. It’s a brilliant bit of casting insurance to safeguard against Hollywood standards that no doubt brand both lead actresses as long in the tooth. And coming from Jay Roach (Austin Powers x 3, Meet the Fockers) what chance did this have of being anything but skit-tish? (2019) — Scott Marks
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