Vice
Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carrell, Sam Rockwell
Directed by: Adam McKay
Rated: R
Dick Cheney. You know the name. You have an opinion. So do the filmmakers of Vice.
Vice explores how Dick Cheney rose in the ranks from a nobody to one of the most powerful men in the world. He controlled much of the American government behind the scenes to obtain great power. How did he do it? Who helped him along the way? Is this movie even accurate?
Vice is truly an exploration of power. What motivates one to go after power? How does one obtain power? How much power is too much? Adam McKay returns to the directing chair after 2015’s The Big Short to explore another political topic. I loved The Big Short and found it informative and funny. While Vice has many good and entertaining moments, it definitely doesn’t live up to McKay’s previous film. Unfortunately the narrative is all over the place, never really focusing in on one truly important topic…except for the fact that Dick Cheney really loved power (and fishing!) The editing is my biggest problem with this movie. It’s such a mess. McKay’s unique and overtly stylistic editing technique worked wonderfully in The Big Short as it cut in to show scenes of what was happening with the world from pop culture to politics at the time. With the housing crisis, all of these images felt relevant. Here, several of these spliced shots seem odd and out of place. Many of them feel like watching random images cut into a movie. I’ll admit there is a great scene with Sam Rockwell intercut with a fishing metaphor. It is probably the most well edited scene in the whole movie. Another major problem I had with the editing is how it jumps through time frantically. The movie begins in the 1960’s then jumps to September 11th, then goes right back to the 1960’s, all before the title credits. I understand if you want to tell your story in a non-linear timeline, but there has to be a way to do that more smoothly.
The editing may be messy, but the acting completely makes up for that. Each performance is a masterclass in acting.
Christian Bale is truly phenomenal. Talk about a chameleon! He completely becomes Dick Cheney looking exactly like him from his days as a fledging college student to his rise to the Vice Presidency. This performance spans 45 years yet Bale manages to be convincing the entire time. He is quiet and reserved as Cheney, always waiting in the wings...but as he waits, he’s always a step ahead of everyone else. He’s calling the shots, whether his colleagues know it or not.
Amy Adams is Lynne Cheney, Dick’s very motivated and intense wife. She serves as the film’s Lady Macbeth figure. (Vice even has a monologue where Dick and Lynn quote a Shakespeare-like soliloquy to each other) The film argues that Lynne is the reason Dick ever got into politics at all. Without her, he would never have pursued a career in politics. She essentially runs his campaign when the time comes. Any scene between Dick and Lynne Cheney is particularly intriguing because it explores the relationship between one of the most powerful men in politics and a woman who called the shots. Amy Adams nails this role with a power hungry intensity.
The supporting cast is very strong. Steve Carrell turns in quite an entertaining and comedic performance as Donald Rumsfeld, the former Secretary of Defense. Sam Rockwell is the most impressive, in my opinion, as George W. Bush. Rockwell does a spot on Bush impersonation complete with the instantly recognizable Texas accent. He even gets his facial expressions down. He may not be in the movie much, but a performance this strong should absolutely get a supporting actor nomination.
Here’s the deal: I have no problem believing that Dick Cheney ran some highly questionable operations from the White House. Nor do I doubt that he was a power hungry individual. However, this movie reaches a little too far at times, screaming its politically important message to the audience. The end of the film has a montage that tries to blame every bad situation and natural disaster that we face today on Dick Cheney. This includes the formation of ISIS, wildfires in California, and the current opioid crisis. It’s ridiculous to suggest that one person (who hasn’t been in office for 10 years) is to blame for the current tragedies we deal with on a daily basis.
Adam McKay doesn’t recreate the greatness of The Big Short due to Vice’s loud and inconsistent narrative, but its phenomenal performances save the film.
My Rating: 6/10