Vice – 4 out of 5
I’m not stranger to watching movies about evil people. I’ve seen my fair share of biopics that center on horrible people who do horrible things so I would never rule out watching a film about one of the most conniving men to ever exist: Dick Cheney. However, when you slather that biopic in a dark humor/satirical sauce, have it directed by Adam McKay and have Christian Bale put on some poundage and portray the dill weed, you have a better chance of getting me to check it out. And check it out I did. I watched Vice and found it a very amusing and entertaining exploration of a truly vile person.
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| How much longer can Bale's body go through these physical changes before he melts or explodes from the stress? |
Vice tells the tale of, you guessed it, Dick Cheney (Christian Bale). It follows him from his days as a college dropout getting pulled over by the cops for driving while intoxicated to him setting his sights on working in the government. From his early days as a White House intern under Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carell) during the Nixon administration to the moment George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell) asks him to become his running mate, the story showcases Cheney’s mad obsession with power and how he changed everything we know about politics and the powers of the Vice President and his lasting, negative effect he’s had on the office to this day.
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| I hate Dubya but I love Sam Rockwell. I'm so conflicted! |
Making a biopic about a still living Vice President is hard enough but making one about a truly heinous, power-hungry piece of shit (is my bias showing?) makes it all that more difficult. Now imagine doing that with a slightly comedic tilt that wasn’t full-on parody? However, Adam McKay tackled a difficult subject not meant to have a humorous leaning with The Big Short so the tale was definitely in good hands. McKay showed that artisanal comedic craftsmanship all over again with Vice as he delivered a film that wasn’t afraid to showcase that its central figure is nearly completely irredeemable (probably the only decent thing about him is the sequence where he tells his lesbian daughter—played by Alison Pill—that he loves her no matter what) and is able to make a story that is engaging and utterly entertaining.
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| Even evil men can love and accept their children...but it turns out she had oil inside her and he could use that to orchestrate a war that he can profit off of. |
Probably my favorite element of the film is the narration that is done by the character of Kurt (played by Jesse Plemons). Who exactly is the character is a surprise that is revealed in the end so I won’t get in to that for the sake of Spoilers but his inclusion is wickedly creative and a very amusing way to illustrate Cheney’s story. This also allowed the film to have a fly on the wall feel so that never feels like we are joining Cheney on his evil journey of power but rather are watching him go through this. Doing this created a presentation that allowed for some truly creative and very funny moments. Some of which included a false ending that hysterically presents a happy ending for the corrupt man and a terrifically edited sequence where we see who really was pulling the strings with Dubya as the scene where George asks Dick to be his running mate is splice with shots of fly fishing. McKay really delivered an expertly forged format to tell this story and really made a tale about a terrible person interesting and easy to digest.
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| The film did a great job of teasing this character's connection to Cheney and it was an amusing surprise when it is revealed at the end. Plus, Plemons is awesome! |
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| Amy Adams is fantastic in this film but that's just expected because she never fails to deliver. |
Not surprisingly, the cast in this film is just phenomenal. There’s already an abundance of talent as you have Bale in titular role, Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney and the likes of Plemons, Carell, Rockwell and Tyler Perry as Colin Powell—just to name a few. Everyone frighteningly captured their real-life counterparts in both look and mannerisms. I’m always amazed at the lengths Bale will go to physically change himself for a role but he really nailed down every detail of Cheney. From the way he walked and sat to how he spoke out of the side of his mouth. It is probably the closest one could get to a real Dick Cheney on screen in a comedic biopic about the guy.
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| The film concludes with the fourth wall being broken and Cheney speaking directly to the viewer. It is brilliant but goddamn unsettling. |
Vice is tricky subject material in a barrage of ways. It’s easy to make biopics about terrible people after they are gone but it’s a different minefield to navigate when they are still here. However, I feel Adam McKay delivered a film that was, for lack of a better term, pretty fair and balanced. The story doesn’t ever showcase Cheney as a sympathetic person (far from it) but it does showcase how his obsession with power altered our political landscape forever and it does so in a way that never felt too over-the-top or overtly bias (unlike my descriptions of the former Vice President). Granted, there is no denying the film has bias but it never comes off as childish as our current leader has a tendency to get. Overall, the film tells an intriguing story (and frustrating one in the fact Cheney pulled off this crap) and is filled with tremendous performers and some great humor.
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