It’s been a bit since we’ve heard anything about Jay Roach’s Fox News movie, and with good reason: The film opted to skip out on all of the fall festivals, and it also attempted to dodge The Loudest Voice, a series about the same thing on Showtime, which starred Russell Crowe as Roger Ailes (Ailes is played in Roach’s film by John Lithgow). The film did have some test screenings in Boston a while back, and we’ve heard some interesting things about it — not good, not bad, just interesting. Now, the film finally has a title, Bombshell, and a first trailer that attempts to walk a very difficult line between comedy and drama. We’re not entirely sure it succeeds at it.
Take a look:
Ok, here’s the problem: This looks like a Jay Roach movie. And no, we’re not talking about the Jay Roach who made the middlebrow Trumbo, we’re talking about the Jay Roach who, up until that film, was making wacky comedies like the Austin Powers movies and Meet the Parents. The goofy-ass make-up on Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman doesn’t help, but Roach’s style — the camera movement, the awkward dialogue — lends itself to comedy in a way that doesn’t totally groove with the ugly seriousness of the real-life story. After all, this is just a minute of footage, so we’ll hold all of our judgements until the final film releases, but we’re skeptical about this one.
Here’s a synopsis:
“Starring Academy Award winner Charlize Theron, Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman, Academy Award nominee John Lithgow and Academy Award nominee Margot Robbie, based on the real scandal, ‘Bombshell’ is a revealing look inside the most powerful and controversial media empire of all time; Fox News, and the explosive story of the women who brought down the infamous man who created it. Directed by Emmy Award winner Jay Roach and written by Academy Award winner Charles Randolph.”
Bombshell hits theaters on December 20.