Bombshell Blu Ray Review (Lionsgate)
Bombshell is a 2019 drama film produced & directed by Jay Roach (Meet the Parents/Fockers, Austin Powers franchise, Dinner for Schmucks, & Trumbo). It’s based on real life events. Fair and Balanced was the original title. It was written & produced by Charles Randolph (The Big Short, The Life of David Gale, & The Interpreter). It was produced by Jason Cloth (Child’s Play, Joker, The Kitchen, Assassination Nation, Anna, & The Mule), Aaron L. Gilbert (Queen & Slim, Candyman, Villains, & The Nightingale), & Charlize Theron (Mindhunter, The Addams Family, Young Adult, Tully, & Long Shot). The budget was $32 million & it grossed $56 million worldwide at the box office.
Roger Ailes (played by: John Lithgow from Dexter, Raising Cain, 3rd Rock from the Sun, & Cliffhanger) is in charge & runs the powerful Fox News. Three different women which include Megyn Kelly (played by: Charlize Theron from Monster, Atomic Blonde, Mad Max: Fury Road, & Prometheus), Gretchen Carlson (played by: Nicole Kidman from Batman Forever, Dead Calm, Days of Thunder, Dogville, Aquaman, & The Killing of a Sacred Deer), & Kayla Pospisil(played by: Margot Robbie from Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey, The Wolf of Wall Street, & Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) deal with different situations within the company but it all comes back to sexual harassment. Roger has abused his power on all these ladies during his time there. Kelly is one of the network’s most popular newscasters & got the attention of Donald Trump in a bad way after a rough question. She goes through hell over it with her husband Douglas(played by: Mark Duplass from The League, Creep 1/2, The Mindy Project, & Goliath) & children. Carlson is removed as co-anchor of the popular Fox and Friends & is transferred to a less popular show.
Rudi Bakhtiar (played by: Nazanin Boniadi from Counterpart, Homeland, Ben-Hur, & Hotel Mumbai) was previously let go after turning down sexual advances. Kayla Pospisil is new to the Fox team & she is taken under the wing of veteran Gretchen Carlson. She is ambitious & decides to leave her for The O’Reilly Factor but it doesn’t last at all. She gets drunk & hooks up with co-worker Jess Carr (played by: Kate McKinnon from Saturday Night Live, Ghostbusters, Office Christmas Party, & Rough Night). She has a meeting with Ailes & it becomes really awkward. Carlson is let go by Fox & it starts a chain of events. She talks to Roger’s wife Beth (played by: Connie Britton from American Horror Story, American Ultra, A Nightmare on Elm Street, & 9-1-1) plus attorneys Susan Estrich (played by: Allison Janney from Juno, MA, The West Wing, & I, Tonya) & Rudy Giuliani (played by: Richard Kind from Spin City, Mad About You, Gotham, & Stargate). Megyn Kelly, Kayla Pospisil, & 22 other women come forward about sexual harassment at Fox. Roger Ailes & Bill O’Reilly are both fired by Fox co-creator Rupert Murdoch (played by: Malcolm McDowell from A Clockwork Orange, Halloween 1/2, Class of 1999, & Cat People). He takes over everything, Fox has been changed forever now!!!!
Bombshell covers the true events that took place at Fox News. It’s an intense & very uncomfortable drama. It focuses on various different situations dealing with sexual harassment. The script is top notch & there’s a variety of interesting characters here. The score & soundtrack gets stuck in your head for days especially that main theme. The make up fx for Bombshell is incredible & it won an Oscar for it’s work here. John Lithgow & Charlize Theron both look nothing like their normal appearances in this, they are transformed into the real life people that they portray. Both of them are amazing in this, it’s some of their best performances in their careers. Nicole Kidman & Margot Robbie were also great here. Bombshell has so many beautiful women in it. All of the leads were completely different & each role stood out from each other. The supporting cast was fantastic, it includes Mark Duplass, Malcolm McDowell, Richard Kind, Allison Janney, Kate McKinnon, Connie Britton, Nazanin Boniadi, Liv Hewson (Santa Clarita Diet), Brigette Lundy-Paine (Atypical), Rob Delaney (Deadpool 2), Stephen Root (Office Space), Jennifer Morrison (House), Alice Eve (Replicas), Tony Plana (The Punisher), Tricia Helfer (Lucifer), Madeline Zima (Twin Peaks), & Katie Aselton (Legion). It’s loaded with familiar faces & known actors, I didn’t even list of them here. Everything about this production is at a high quality. If you are looking for a great drama, this comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Lionsgate! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer looks fantastic on blu ray, this stylized production really stands out on the format. The cinematography, production design, & locations are all very impressive. It has a variety of audio options which includes English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, & French: Dolby Digital 5.1 on this release. It sounds great & it definitely has a nice boost to it when it comes to the music. The dialogue is crystal clear. It also has English SDH, French, & Spanish subtitles.
Let’s discuss the special features from Lionsgate! “No Easy Truths: The Making of Bombshell” is broken down into 7 different parts & it’s little over 94 minutes. It includes “Convergence: Genesis of the Film”, “Quid Pro Quo: Charlize, Nicole, Margot, John”, “Human Dynamics: The Ensemble Cast”, “Breaking the Fourth Wall: Visual Design”, “Layer by Layer: Makeup, Hair & Clothing”, “A Unique Skill Set: Jay Roach”, & “Catalyst for Change: Parting Thoughts”. It has interviews with director Jay Roach, writer Charles Randolph, actors Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, Allison Janney, Malcolm McDowell, Kate McKinnon, Connie Britton, Liv Hewson, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Mark Duplass, Rob Delaney, Nazanin Boniadi, Amy Landecker, John Lithgow, & various members of the production. They chat about putting this project together. They talk about bringing it to Charlize Theron as a producer. She decided to be the lead for it, she hand picked the director & helped with the cast. They said she was very hands on with everything for Bombshell. They mention they were originally considering a woman to direct this. They go over the real life people, inspirations, & events for the feature.
They talk about the amazing cast for this film. They bring up their characters & performances. They mention some of them really added depth to their roles with their suggestions. They chat about the cinematography & production design. They focus on the top notch make up fx for Bombshell. They take you through the transformations with Charlize Theron to Megyn Kelly, Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson, & John Lithgow to Roger Ailes. They mention how unrecognizable these known actors were after the fx. They bring up their experience on Bombbshell & working with director Jay Roach. They go over how they put together the creative teaser for this. This great documentary on the production. It’s very rare that you get something like this for a newer film. It goes into great detail about everything that you would want to know about it. It has a “Theatrical Trailer” for the movie. It also includes a slipcover, a digital code, & a DVD copy of the release. It’s available everywhere next week, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
