Movie review : “Bombshell”
A 2019 American biographical film directed by Jay Roach and written by Charles Randolph, ‘Bombshell’ is a film which stars Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie. It is based upon the reports of several women at Fox News who set out to expose the CEO for sexual harassment.
Without any pussyfooting and no attempt at all at kowtowing to the current climate of political correctness, the movie inspires, informs and impresses on several counts.
The battle goes on in the minds of the women about the choices they have to make regarding whether to be a whistleblower and expose the powerful top boss, or stay silent and suffer for the sake of the perks they get. The three women who are the protagonists are talented and ambitious and are fond of the limelight. In the cutthroat world of the media, knowing that they have reached the top on their own merit is heady…but the prospect of staying at the top can be achieved only at a price. And that price involves selling their self respect.
Every working professional faces this dilemma at some point in their life, but a woman faces it at several stages in her professional life. No workplace seems to be exempt from this, and when the choice comes along, it is always between the devil and the deep sea.
The battle is real, and the movie is a perfect portrayal of the turmoil that rages within the three women. The movie is fast-paced, the actions that unfold are unexpected.
But what carries the day is the acting. The theme has been dealt with in many plots and stories, but the strength and the integrity of the three actresses, the finesse and understated refinement with which each play their part in this necessarily female-centric plot takes one’s breath away. Charlize Theron, thespian of many roles, takes the crown with consummate ease.
The movie gives the lie to the myth that movies cannot succeed without violence, mayhem, male characters who feel that they have to save the world, and female characters who are assigned the roles of crying, sighing, or singing.
I still shudder when I remember the words of a song in the Rani Muherjee-Anil Kapoor starrer, ‘Nayak’, which has Rani Mukerjee’s character singing a song so cravenly slavish to the Man in the equation, that I wouldn’t demean this page by quoting it. How can something like this even be allowed? Aren’t these the kind of words that should be censored? I would prefer honest four letter abuse to this kind of regressive, stereotypical crap any day.
Watch the movie in a theatre, if you can, like I did. If you are not going alone, take a woman with you, or a man who is not afraid of giving a woman her space.
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