History YMMV / Bombshell2019

* WhatTheHellCastingAgency: While most of the castings are pretty spot on, Creator/JohnLithgow as Roger Ailes looks nothing like the real man, even with the heavy make-up. This normally wouldn't be a problem as Lithgow is more than capable of [[AbilityOverAppearance overcoming a lack of similarity with his acting]], as he did playing Winston Churchill on ''Series/TheCrown2016'', but the opening includes prominent footage of the real Ailes which only calls attention to it.

* HilariousInHindsight: At one point, Jess (KateMcKinnon) jokingly refers to Kayla (Margot Robbie) as "Anchor Barbie". The two of them would later play [[Film/{{Barbie(2023)}} actual Barbies]].

* HilariousInHindsight: At one point, Jess (Kate McKinnon) jokingly refers to Kayla (Margot Robbie) as "Anchor Barbie". The two of them would later play [[Film/Barbie(2023) actual Barbies]].

* RetroactiveRecognition: Liv Hewson would become more recognisable for playing Van in ''{{Series/Yellowjackets}}'' two years later.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: The films was an AcclaimedFlop that barely recouped its budget domestically for being a classic "film for no one": the movie is about Creator/FoxNews (alienating liberal-leaning audiences who have disdain for the openly and heavily far-right conservative network) regarding sexual misconduct at Fox News (alienating conservative-leaning audiences who place Fox News on a media pedestal), and any attempt to make the movie a "fun" look at {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s a la ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet'' and ''Film/TheBigShort'' (the trailers heavily used Music/BillieEilish's "Bad Guy") didn't catch on. A Forbes analyst added that AngstAversion was probably in play, summing up ''Bombshell'' underperforming on how "folks didn’t want to go to the movies to watch women get harassed and/or assaulted by powerful men", and women in particular "don’t necessarily want to race out to the theater to watch something that explicitly reminds them of the horrors of the modern world."

* UncertainAudience: Several trade publications chalked its underperformance at the box office to this, despite solid reviews and performance raves: it's a movie about Fox News (alienating left-leaning audiences due to disdain over the openly-right network) that probes into the misconduct at Fox News (alienating right-leaning audiences not interested in potshots at their preferred news network).
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: RealitySubtext is only alluded to in the movie but one character explains that Fox News sells "fear of minorities" as one of their chief plot points and another character just nods along with it as if it's perfectly natural. While a DownplayedTrope in the movie, its established Fox News is a racist and awful corporation regardless of its treatment of women. This undermines the sympathy of the protagonists even if you rightfully believe no one should undergo sexual harassment. What's more is that the film pares down Megyn Kelly's real-life racism, and Gretchen Carlson's homophobia.

* WhatTheHellCastingAgency: While most of the castings are pretty spot on, Creator/JohnLithgow as Roger Ailes looks nothing like the real man, even with the heavy make-up. This normally wouldn't be a problem as Lithgow is more than capable of [[AbilityOverAppearance overcoming a lack of similarity with his acting]], as he did playing Winston Churchill on Series/TheCrown2016, but the opening includes prominent footage of the real Ailes which only calls attention to it.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: The films was an AcclaimedFlop that barely recouped its budget domestically for being a classic "film for no one": the movie is about Fox News (alienating liberal-leaning audiences who have disdain for the openly and heavily far-right conservative network) regarding sexual misconduct at Fox News (alienating conservative-leaning audiences who place Fox News on a media pedestal), and any attempt to make the movie a "fun" look at {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s a la ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet'' and ''Film/TheBigShort'' (the trailers heavily used Music/BillieEilish's "Bad Guy") didn't catch on. A Forbes analyst added that AngstAversion was probably in play, summing up ''Bombshell'' underperforming on how "folks didn’t want to go to the movies to watch women get harassed and/or assaulted by powerful men", and women in particular "don’t necessarily want to race out to the theater to watch something that explicitly reminds them of the horrors of the modern world."

* WhatTheHellCastingAgency: While most of the castings are pretty spot on, Creator/JohnLithgow as Roger Ailes looks nothing like the real man, even with the heavy make-up. This normally wouldn't be a problem as Lithgow is more than capable of [[AbilityOverAppearance overcoming a lack of similarity with his acting]] but the opening includes prominent footage of the real Ailes which only calls attention to it.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: The films was an AcclaimedFlop that barely recouped its budget domestically for being a classic "film for no one": the movie is about Fox News (alienating liberal-leaning audiences who have disdain for the openly and heavily far-right conservative network) regarding sexual misconduct at Fox News (alienating conservative-leaning audiences who place Fox News on a media pedestal), and any attempt to make the movie a "fun" look at CorruptCorporateExecutives a la ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet'' and ''Film/TheBigShort'' (the trailers heavily used Music/BillieEilish's "Bad Guy") didn't catch on. A Forbes analyst added that AngstAversion was probably in play, summing up ''Bombshell'' underperforming on how "folks didn’t want to go to the movies to watch women get harassed and/or assaulted by powerful men", and women in particular "don’t necessarily want to race out to the theater to watch something that explicitly reminds them of the horrors of the modern world."

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: The films was an AcclaimedFlop that barely recouped its budget domestically for being a classic "film for no one": the movie is about Fox News (alienating liberal-leaning audiences who have disdain for the openly and heavily far-right conservative network) regarding sexual misconduct at Fox News (alienating conservative-leaning audiences who place Fox News on a media pedestal), and any attempt to make the movie a "fun" look at CorruptCorporateExecutives a la The Wolf of Wall Street and The Big Short (the trailers heavily used Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy") didn't catch on. And a Forbes analyst added that AngstAversion was probably in play, summing up Bombshell underperforming on how "folks didn’t want to go to the movies to watch women get harassed and/or assaulted by powerful men", and women in particular "don’t necessarily want to race out to the theater to watch something that explicitly reminds them of the horrors of the modern world."

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: RealitySubtext is only alluded to in the movie but one character explains that Fox News sells "fear of minorities" as one of their chief plot points and another character just nods along with it as if it's perfectly natural. While a DownplayedTrope in the movie, its established Fox News is a racist and awful corporation regardless of its treatment of women. This undermines the sympathy of the protagonists even if you rightfully believe no one should undergo sexual harassment.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Several reviews complain about the film having an overly simplistic view of Kelly and Carlson as innocent victims and ignoring their own complicity in other nasty stuff at the network or making problematic statements on their shows (such as Kelly defending the use of blackface in Halloween costumes, though that happened two years after the events of this movie, and they ''do'' show Kelly infamously claiming that Jesus and Santa are both white men), giving an overly black and white moral rather than the more difficult and hard-hitting message that even women who aren't especially likable, have disagreeable politics, or make ignorant statements don't deserve what they went through.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: [[https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pdominguez/bombshell-megyn-kelly-charlize-theron-white-women Some]] [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/can-bombshell-be-a-feminist-movie-if-the-characters-hate-being-called-feminists/2019/12/11/43461df2-0705-11ea-8292-c46ee8cb3dce_story.html reviewers]] have believe that no matter how well made and well acted this movie is, it's irresponsible to glamorize conservative white women by keeping the, shall we say, problematic issues that plague the movement in the background. The mini-series ''Series/MrsAmerica'', which aired the Spring after this came out, also faced similar criticisms, despite a lot of reviewers admitting that it was a good show. [[https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pdominguez/mrs-america-cate-blanchett-fx-conservative-women Some have even compared this movie to it]] in a negative manner.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: This movie is a [[{{Deconstruction}} serious look]] at the behavior of a sexual predator. The ''Film/AustinPowers'' [[HeAlsoDid franchise]] (from the same director) treats some of Austin's worst shenanigans in a more... lighthearted manner.

* EnforcedMethodActing: While the movie is centred on sexual harassment in the workplace, Margot Robbie revealed she didn't fully realise what it was until reading the script. "One of the lines that shocked me when I first read the script was that sexual harassment includes any unwelcome sexual advances," she told the Herald Sun on Saturday. "I always thought it required physical contact for it to be considered illegal or wrong. That really shocked me." Margot said recognising that such harassment did not have to be physical, but also be verbal, prompted her to join the film.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: RealitySubtext is only alluded to in the movie but one character explains that Fox News sells "fear of minorities" as one of their chief plot points and another character just nods along with it as if it's perfectly natural. While a DownplayedTrope in the movie, its established Fox News is a racist and awful corporate regardless of its treatment of women. This undermines the sympathy of the protagonists even if you rightfully believe no one should undergo sexual harassment.

** Tricky dealing with the fact that Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson are real life individuals but there is a lot of BrokenBase on whether they are sympathetic individuals, women knowingly working in an evil industry, or some combination of both.

* BrokenBase: The movie suffers a lot from people who believe that the movie undermined reality by giving a lot of HistoricalHeroUpgrade and in order to tell a BlackAndWhiteMorality tale versus those who believe that the story is SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped with Ailes actions being indefensible no matter what.
* DuelingWorks: With Showtime's ''The Loudest Voice'' that roughly covers the same series of events.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Several reviews complain about the film having an overly simplistic view of Kelly and Carlson as innocent victims and ignoring their own complicity in other nasty stuff at the network or making problematic statements on their shows (such as Kelly defending the use of blackface in Halloween costumes, though that happened two years after the events of this movie, and they ''do'' show Kelly infamously claiming that Jesus and Santa are both white men), giving an overly black and white moral rather than the more difficult and hard-hitting message that even women who aren't especially likable, have disagreeable politics, or make ignorant statements don't deserve what they went through.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Several reviews complain about the film having an overly simplistic view of Kelly and Carlson as innocent victims and ignoring their own complicity in other nasty stuff at the network or making problematic statements on their shows (such as Kelly defending the use of blackface in Halloween costumes, though that happened two years after the events of this movie), giving an overly black and white moral rather than the more difficult and hard-hitting message that even women who aren't especially likable, have disagreeable politics, or make ignorant statements don't deserve what they went through.
** Though they don’t exactly hide Kelly’s infamous moments, such as her claiming that Jesus and Santa are both white men.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Several reviews complain about the film having an overly simplistic view of Kelly and Carlson as innocent victims and ignoring their own complicity in other nasty stuff at the network (such as Kelly defending the use of blackface in Halloween costumes, though that happened two years after the events of this movie), giving an overly black and white moral rather than the more difficult and hard-hitting message that even women who aren't especially likable don't deserve what they went through.
** Though they don’t exactly hide Kelly’s infamous moments, such as her exclaiming that Jesus and Santa are both white men.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Several reviews complain about the film having an overly simplistic view of Kelly and Carlson as innocent victims and ignoring their own complicity in other nasty stuff at the network (such as Kelly defending the use of blackface in Halloween costumes), giving an overly black and white moral rather than the more difficult and hard-hitting message that even women who aren't especially likable don't deserve what they went through.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Several reviews complain about the film having an overly simplistic view of Kelly and Carlson as innocent victims and ignoring their own complicity in other nasty stuff at the network, giving an overly black and white moral rather than the more difficult and hard-hitting message that even women who aren't especially likable don't deserve what they went through.