Vice

In 2008, Italian director Paolo Sorrentino made a film about a, then, still living sinister political figure Giuliano Andreotti. The ferociousness of the portrait was acceptable to the public at large because it was presented as a stylish, slightly surreal comedy. Adam McKay sets VICE in a more realistic universe but the results are just as pungent, disturbing and funny. Christian Bale is spookily perfect. And Amy Adams is a modern day Lady Macbeth of major proportions. The most unsettling part of the whole experience, because Vice is an experience, is the knowledge that this are the people chosen by the people. The fact that countries have the governments they deserve gives me a chill in 2018. A remarkable film with remarkable performances. Bravo.

With the making of Vice Richard Cheney of Wyoming reached a status that no one else has in American history. Who else who only made it to the office of Vice President managed to have a movie made about them. The only other one was Aaron Burr.

There's not much about Dick Cheney that I had not already known. The story of a hell raising kid from Wyoming who rose to be among the movers and shakers of our country might be considered an American success story. If he had only used his talents for the creation of a little good in the world I might be more favorably disposed.

As a Vice President Cheney is also unique in truly becoming an assistant President and actually making policy. In our history the only other one like that who comes to mind is Martin Van Buren who Andrew Jackson's Vice President in Jackson's second term.

The real surprise in this was Amy Adams who played Lynne Chaney. I never knew that much about her and she has a really great scene where kickstarts her drunken boyfriend Cheney basically saying shape up and make something of yourself in this world that men run. Fascinating the response here. Lynne Chaney says work the system, someone like Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the same situation makes up her mind to change things. Amy Adams got a Best Supporting Actor nomination as did Sam Rockwell for Best Supporting Actor.

Still Vice is driven by the Best Actor nominee Christian Bale and his portrayal of Richard Cheney. It's a many sided portrayal and Cheney does not come out all bad. For instance he's shown as being supportive of his lesbian daughter Mary Cheney. Qualify that by saying he also realizes among the crowd he seeks to court for votes having an out lesbian daughter isn't going make him friends. Lynne Chaney realizes that even more.

Bale got an Oscar nomination for Best Actor and the film was up for Best Picture and several other awards. It only won in the Makeup category.

Most interesting role was that of Jesse Plemons, an every man sort of character who narrates the film and has a unique relationship with Richard Cheney. You find out if you watch the movie.

An interesting look at some of our recent American past through the eyes of a consummate insider.

It puts "Hereditary" to shame. However, I disagree with critics' assertions that director McKay set out to make Cheney seem like a complete monster. He often humanized him, and there were a couple of moments when a few of the members of my audience got somewhat emotional. If you had asked them before the movie if they were going to shed a tear while they watched it, they probably would have replied, "HELL NO." Also, whereas I would state firmly that there was ZERO link to anything that involved 9/11 and Iraq, McKay provides a very tenuous, dubious possible link to him-- which later completely boomerangs into Cheney's face.

To put it bluntly, it was the worst administration of all time, and as the film states early, I think that many Americans have either forgotten it or never really paid attention to it completely. When Democrats describe their worst fears of possible Trump disasters, I don't think that they know that they are describing things that *actually occurred* during the first decade of this century. When Bale as Cheney looks directly into the camera and delivers a monologue-- or postmortem-- about his tenure as vice president, it might remind you of Emperor Palpatine's rationalizations in the Star Wars prequels. As the film shows, at the time there were justifications for unitary executive privilege that were written by a single moron and apparently regarded as gospel-- and can be used as precedent by future presidents. And I probably don't need to remind you about the most unjustified, wasteful, moronic and disastrous war in American history, which he strongly advocated and for which the entire world is continuing to pay a heavy toll. This film is actually important.

Finally, Bale is my choice for best lead actor of 2018. It was a tour de force performance.

If this film has any slight problems for me, I didn't like some of its artistic license. Sometimes I wanted it to be more straightforward. But it's a must watch.

As Adam McKay's follow-up to The Big Short (one of my favorite films of 2015) he is back with another dark satirical comedy.

Just like in The Big Short, the amount of information McKay throws at you is a little overwhelming, especially if you don't fully understand it. It is a little slower paced of a movie, but the way he frames every scene has such gusto that you can't take your eyes off the screen.

Other than the brilliant script the main thing to note in this movie is the perfect casting. Christian Bale and Amy Adams teaming up again, this time as Dick and Lynne Cheney further prove they should team up in every movie together. Christian Bale is so believable as Dick Cheney that you suddenly forget that you are even watching Bale at all. Then you have Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld, Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush, Tyler Perry as Colin Powell, Naomi Watts, Lily Rabe, Jesse Plemons (in a role that I did NOT see coming), and plenty more.

There is a fantastic scene between Lynne and Dick where Plemons' character narrating notes - that we wouldn't know what they actually would have said in this certain moment, but he images it would be something quite Shakespearian. Then Lynne and Dick start talking like they are in Macbeth. Their chemistry is just fantastic and you get to see how much Lynne stepped up, and her ambitions and reservations with going into this political world.

As much as this movie paints Cheney as a villain, McKay still gave him depth and compassionate moments, and showing all of his health troubles. You really see how this man became the most powerful VP that we have ever had in the history of the U.S. Presidency and how scary that is because it is all true. We have lived it.

This movie is definitely not for everyone but I really enjoyed it. There is a funny after credits scene that shows how divided our country is, and the quote above is exactly what you should be asking yourself at the end of the movie. So, what do we believe?

This film is held together by some truly outstanding performances (Bale and Adams, in particular). It will no doubt be compared to writer/director Adam McKay's film adaptation of The Big Short. But while that story covered just a couple years, Vice spans nearly 4 decades, significantly more difficult to fit into a 2 hour film.

McKay's use of a narrating character is sometimes helpful in providing context and continuity, though I think it worked better in The Big Short.

As a bio-pic, Vice does a good job of capturing Cheney's drive for power and his devotion to his family. Complicated people are generally difficult to depict in film, but McKay and the team he assembled gave it an effort worthy of some awards.

I found some of the editing a bit quirky to the point of distraction, but I definitely recommend seeing it. Be sure and stay to the end.