Mark Reviews Movies: DIVIDE AND CONQUER: THE STORY OF ROGER AILES

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Review by Mark Dujsik | December 6, 2018

Director Alexis Bloom gives us as close to a sympathetic portrait of Roger Ailes as one possibly could—as long as that picture of the man were to be honest. After his death in 2017, the 24-hour news network Ailes ran certainly tried to present a glowing tribute to the man, despite him being ousted from the network less than a year prior because of multiple allegations of sexual harassment. When Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes arrives at a montage of those network hosts crying over their former leader, we get a really clear picture of the kind of culture he created at the network—and how that network helped to split the political culture of the United States.

There is nothing sympathetic about Ailes, except, perhaps, that he was so entrenched in his work that his life looked quite lonely to anyone who hadn't decided to remain completely loyal to him. Loyalty was a big thing for Ailes, according to just about everyone who knew him. Some of those people are interviewed here—childhood friends and former employees. Some of them are seen in footage on Fox News, where Ailes served as CEO from 1996 to 2016, or other networks.

At times, the screen is filled with the faces of two men, sometimes from competing networks, who since have been alleged to have engaged in behavior akin to the kind that resulted in Ailes' resignation. Ailes seemed different, considering his overtly conservative politics and the dishonest ways he used his network to champion them. In hindsight and observing all of these men together at various points throughout the film, we see that he really wasn't that different—a man in power who abused it for personal, professional, and political ends.

Bloom's documentary follows Ailes' life, from his childhood until his death, and more importantly, it also tracks what made the man tick and how the manipulation of his own story mirrored the way he set out to manipulate the political climate of the U.S. Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes serves as an insightful examination of a man who always wanted a battle, if only to be the winner, and who was willing to turn the entire country into a battleground, if only to ensure that his power went without question.

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