• It is a Jay Roach film (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents) and clearly the idea behind this was to recreate the success of The Big Short– taking a serious timely topic/subject/ exposé, big stars (and this film has that) and a comic director (like Adam McKay). The results don’t quite land and although the film is engaging and, at times, funny (on top of stars it, like The Big Short casts comedians), I don’t think anyone is going to confuse Roach with McKay and his talents.
  • There’s a little addressing the camera directly and some throwing around the baton-voice-over between the stories that just doesn’t quite add up
  • I think Charlize Theron comes away looking the best. She’s superb.  Margot Robbie (though her strand of the narrative is the weakest and fades away) proves she can act right there with the best actresses of the last 20 years (Kidman and Theron). She has a scene speaking with Kate McKinnon on the phone where she gets to break down and show her off her acting chops
  • speaking of the  SNL comedian–McKinnon may have some of the best lines in the film—her Irish street cop scene- “ You have to adopt the mentality of an Irish street cop: the world is a bad place, people are lazy morons, minorities are criminals, sex is sick but interesting. Ask yourself, what would scare my grandmother or piss off my grandfather? And that’s a Fox story.”
  • At the 49 minutes the three women (all blondes) are all in the elevator at the same time and I think it is supposed to resonate a bit more—it is still a good scene but given how good of a story this is and the talent of the cast involved this should big bigger
  • There are some solid little light storytelling touches like leaving the Fox News stain on the film when Robbie’s character is describing what happened at her home growing up
  • It is a feat of makeup work (Theron looks remarkable, it almost makes the Lithgow casting work)
  • Another McKay-like trait that works is the celebrity cameo casting. Allison Janney has a tiny role and Malcolm McDowell shows up at the end as Rupert Murdoch and that casting is a big win. You need some size to that role/scene and McDowell brings it
  • Recommend – but not terribly close to the top 10 of 2019- closer to the fringe