Vice (B- or 2.5/4 stars)
I wasn't wild about Adam McKay's 2015 satirical dramedy about the stock market, The Big Short. There's just something about his directorial & writing style that doesn't jive with me. Having said that, I acknowledge that it was a good film that just "wasn't for me". Now, he's back with 'Vice', a similarly satirical dramedy; this time, not about financial crisis, but about our problematic vice president from 2000-2008, Dick Cheney. More on how I felt about this film later. Christian Bale stars in this film and nails Cheney as the 1963 Yale drop-out from Casper, Wyoming, who, after a DUI arrest, is given a stern speaking to from his strong-willed wife Lynne (Amy Adams) to stop drinking, get his life together, and BE something ... or else she's gone.
After sobering up, Dick goes from being a lineman {for the county, hehe} for the local power company to entering a Congressional Intern Program to work under the quarrelsome, outspoken conservative, Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carell) in the noxious Nixon administration, and after the steep fall of 'Tricky Dick' Nixon, becomes the chief of staff for Pres. Gerald Ford. In 1978, Cheney, despite a heart attack {and many that we see throughout the film} along the campaign trail, is elected congressman from his home state Wyoming; thanks mostly to his Lady Macbeth wife, who campaigned for him while he recovered. Next up, Dick serves as a secretary for defense for the Pres. George H.W. Bush.
And during the Clinton presidency - when he wasn't a prominent figure through the corridors of the White House - he was CEO of the energy giant, Halliburton. When tapped to be W.'s (funny Sam Rockwell) VP running mate, he gets a $26,000,000 severance pay from Halliburton, promptly has another one of his heart attacks, & then talks the naive, "green" W. into giving him the kind of powers usually reserved ONLY for the president. With the advent of Fox News for the right wing republicans, Dick Cheney welcomes Rumsfeld back into the White House as secretary of defense and, after 9/11 befalls us, they partner-up to bring us the illegal & costly Iraq War {ugh, if ever there was an arrogant miscalculation on the part of Cheney}.
I'll say this, I didn't hate 'Vice'. Some critics call it a masterpiece. Some loathe every fiber of its being. To me, it's an unwieldy thing that entertained me in spots, but isn't much of a cohesive "movie" -- more like an assemblage of scenes. 'Vice' can be funny in one moment, grim the next. I liked the 1st half, which gives us a peek of Cheney as a wild, young buck. A lot of the editing is slapdash and not as impressive as the narrative juggling of The Big Short; or MOST films. What I can glean from this film is that Adam McKay, while showing more human, vulnerable side of Cheney - like when he tells his gay daughter, Mary (Allison Pill) that he still loves her - is pretty hell bent on showing what a shrewd, wily, but calculating Republican he was/is.
Perhaps McKay wants to say that the Republican baddies from this era are the enablers for what we've got in that Party today. Despite the snarky humor & flashy editing, 'Vice' is a pretty heavy film that spells-out some of the doom that we're experiencing in the country right now. That's all well & good, but it's not overly interesting or incisive. I felt like asking: McKay, just what are you getting at with 'Vice' other than to showcase brilliant actor Christian Bale in all his method acting/gain 45 lbs./wear tons of latex glory? Did you ultimately just want to give us an expose on the real reasons behind the failed, misguided invasion of Iraq that Cheney devised? A more pervasive examination of the man was warranted.
Not really knowing what it wanted to say, 'Vice' is best enjoyed as a chance to watch Christian Bale do his thing; digging deep beneath layers of fake fat to give us something emotionally & viscerally substantial. Amy Adams is competent; though, I find it funny that her big scene includes a fly that keeps landing on her arm & Bale's arm. Sam Rockwell is funny, nothing more. Steve Carell, fine. Jesse Plemons is good as our 'narrator'; though, the nature of his existence in this film and the mystery surrounding WHO he is is kinda gimmicky. And that's just it. McKay has all these things he seems to want to say, but gets mired in his gimmicks, editing tricks & sleight-of-hand cinematic antics.
After sobering up, Dick goes from being a lineman {for the county, hehe} for the local power company to entering a Congressional Intern Program to work under the quarrelsome, outspoken conservative, Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carell) in the noxious Nixon administration, and after the steep fall of 'Tricky Dick' Nixon, becomes the chief of staff for Pres. Gerald Ford. In 1978, Cheney, despite a heart attack {and many that we see throughout the film} along the campaign trail, is elected congressman from his home state Wyoming; thanks mostly to his Lady Macbeth wife, who campaigned for him while he recovered. Next up, Dick serves as a secretary for defense for the Pres. George H.W. Bush.
And during the Clinton presidency - when he wasn't a prominent figure through the corridors of the White House - he was CEO of the energy giant, Halliburton. When tapped to be W.'s (funny Sam Rockwell) VP running mate, he gets a $26,000,000 severance pay from Halliburton, promptly has another one of his heart attacks, & then talks the naive, "green" W. into giving him the kind of powers usually reserved ONLY for the president. With the advent of Fox News for the right wing republicans, Dick Cheney welcomes Rumsfeld back into the White House as secretary of defense and, after 9/11 befalls us, they partner-up to bring us the illegal & costly Iraq War {ugh, if ever there was an arrogant miscalculation on the part of Cheney}.
I'll say this, I didn't hate 'Vice'. Some critics call it a masterpiece. Some loathe every fiber of its being. To me, it's an unwieldy thing that entertained me in spots, but isn't much of a cohesive "movie" -- more like an assemblage of scenes. 'Vice' can be funny in one moment, grim the next. I liked the 1st half, which gives us a peek of Cheney as a wild, young buck. A lot of the editing is slapdash and not as impressive as the narrative juggling of The Big Short; or MOST films. What I can glean from this film is that Adam McKay, while showing more human, vulnerable side of Cheney - like when he tells his gay daughter, Mary (Allison Pill) that he still loves her - is pretty hell bent on showing what a shrewd, wily, but calculating Republican he was/is.
Perhaps McKay wants to say that the Republican baddies from this era are the enablers for what we've got in that Party today. Despite the snarky humor & flashy editing, 'Vice' is a pretty heavy film that spells-out some of the doom that we're experiencing in the country right now. That's all well & good, but it's not overly interesting or incisive. I felt like asking: McKay, just what are you getting at with 'Vice' other than to showcase brilliant actor Christian Bale in all his method acting/gain 45 lbs./wear tons of latex glory? Did you ultimately just want to give us an expose on the real reasons behind the failed, misguided invasion of Iraq that Cheney devised? A more pervasive examination of the man was warranted.
Not really knowing what it wanted to say, 'Vice' is best enjoyed as a chance to watch Christian Bale do his thing; digging deep beneath layers of fake fat to give us something emotionally & viscerally substantial. Amy Adams is competent; though, I find it funny that her big scene includes a fly that keeps landing on her arm & Bale's arm. Sam Rockwell is funny, nothing more. Steve Carell, fine. Jesse Plemons is good as our 'narrator'; though, the nature of his existence in this film and the mystery surrounding WHO he is is kinda gimmicky. And that's just it. McKay has all these things he seems to want to say, but gets mired in his gimmicks, editing tricks & sleight-of-hand cinematic antics.