The risk with naming a movie “Bombshell” is the unenviable possibility that the flick bombs at the box office.
“Bombshell” is the much-ballyhooed film that showcases several Fox News women who set out to expose CEO Roger Ailes for sexual harassment.
While it may be too early to call it a bomb, despite a massive advertising campaign, an all-star cast and heavy promotion by the media, Bombshell has failed to make a splash on opening weekend.
Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an unimpressive fresh score of 61%.
“Bombshell benefits from a terrific cast and a worthy subject, but its impact is muffled by a frustrating inability to go deeper than the sensationalistic surface,” the film review site said.
Bashing a network that promises “fair and balanced” news is a favorite pastime for many on the left, and the film drew some real star power in liberal Hollywood, with Charlize Theron playing Megyn Kelly and Nicole Kidman playing Gretchen Carlson.
The film also stars Margot Robbie, John Lithgow, Connie Britton, Malcolm McDowell, Allison Janney, and Kate McKinnon — a small role as a closeted liberal lesbian — who is revered on the left.
The Seattle Times, no bastion of conservatism, said the film “ultimately falls flat.”
Noting that the subject matter makes “a terrific premise for a movie,” the newspaper added that “something went wrong on the way,” pointing to a “cutesy screenplay” as a key fault.
Wendy Williams said on Monday’s show that she fell asleep during the movie — she also said it was not quite theater-quality material, saying while she “loved” the acting, she wondered why this was not on Netflix.
Wendy Williams falls asleep!#TheWendyWilliamShow @WendyWilliams @netflixhttps://t.co/4at44Z1Bmt
— MEAWW Entertainment (@meawwofficial) December 17, 2019
More from MEAWW:
“I am sitting back with my flavors (popcorn) and then I fell asleep. And then Boof (her friend) taps me to wake me up. And I’m like, ‘Boof, it’s dark, it’s raining outside. And I know this story!’ I just wanted to see it for myself, you know what I’m saying? There was nothing that I didn’t see that I already didn’t know.”
She doubled down on her previous point, “If you’re just a regular person, this is not your movie. This should have just been on cable.”
Buzzfeed News pans the film for a different reason, which captures the conundrum filmmakers are up against in taking on a subject matter involving a network the left loves to hate.
Complaining that the movie “wants us to see the women of Fox News as heroes,” as the headline screams, Buzzfeed’s is disappointed that Carlson and Kelly aren’t portrayed as racist homophobes
In effect, it’s not enough for Dominguez to have the late Roger Ailes demonized, he wants the women who exposed him dragged over the coals too.
He’s also perturbed that Fox News might come out smelling like roses.
“[T]he movie ends up being, in some ways, an infomercial for their post–Fox News incarnations while also promoting the idea of a kinder, gentler Fox News without Ailes at the helm,” he writes.
“Bombshell,” which began a limited run on Dec. 13, and will open nationwide on Dec. 20.
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Tom@bizpacreview.com
The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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