Vice is an utterly fascinating and utterly frustrating film.
Adam McKay’s latest drama/satire/quasi-expose has moments of sheer and utter brilliance. The performances, the subject matter, and certain narrative and cinematic devices stay with you well after the credits have rolled. And had the writer/director stuck to these strengths, Vice, would’ve easily been one of the best movies of 2018, and my slam dunk pick for Best Picture.
However, McKay hamstrings the film by going too far with his point. He takes too many opportunities (particularly in the second half of the film) to make ham-fisted, eye-rolling points in the film. There’s one scene in particular near the end that is belongs in a student film, not something that’s in contention for an Oscar. It’s almost embarrassing to watch. Moments like these seem like McKay is desperately trying to make his point. He’s screaming at you to understand what he’s trying to say. However, filmgoers have already seen his point because he made it so subtly, brilliantly, and naturally in the beginning of the film. It’s the point you knew going into this film — Dick Cheney is a bad, bad man who operated in the shadows, and whose policies still govern us today.
The story of Dick Cheney and his rise to power is absolutely fascinating. Mostly, because the majority of us probably aren’t aware of it (something McKay annoyingly reminds of us). Watching Cheney go from a drunken loser to one of the most dangerous and influential men in American politics is riveting. The director spikes the run-of-the-mill biopic narrative with narration from the always fantastic Jesse Plemmons, as well as information (facts, conjecture, statistics) inter-spliced between scenes. It gives the drama a near-documentary feel.
This documentary feel is modified by the cast McKay has assembled — the majority of whom completely immerse themselves in their characters. It turns from this docudrama into a near-Shakespearean horror movie. These characters slowly turn into these absolute monsters, and with terror in your heart you watch as they slowly weave themselves into the very structure of American life. It’s fascinating and horrifying to watch at the same time.
Bale punches his ticket to Oscar night with his performance as the former Vice President. Bale’s performance, and McKay’s writing have created a Cheney that isn’t some hollow villain. We see his transformation from a man motivated to live up a promise made to his long-suffering wife, to a power-obsessed monster hellbent on ruling the country. The performance is filled with menace, duplicity, and yet at times moments of comedy, and humanity. It’s a complex role that Bale handles with ridiculous ease.
Amy Adams, to no one’s surprise, is great as Lynne Cheney. Her chemistry with Bale — in particular during a particularly Shakespearean scene — is pure gold. The two fit together like they’ve been married their entire lives, knowing each other’s moves and counter moves so well. Adams, while not onscreen as often as Bale, delivers knock out punches every time she appears on screen. Her ascent to power from housewife, to Cheney’s unspoken righthand is equally fascinating and horrifying to watch, and is given the right amount of attention.
Steve Carrell, who seems to be gunning for an Oscar this year, is just disarming in his performance as Donald Rumsfeld. Infusing the worst parts of Michael Scott into the role, Carrell makes the former Secretary of Defense both an oily corrupter, and a poisonous comedic fool. Rockwell’s turn as George W. Bush is solid. It’s not as ever-present as the trailers make it out to be, but the point of the film is Bush is barely involved in running the country, Cheney is. Many are lauding Rockwell for a Supporting Actor Nom this year, but it’s really Carrell who deserves it.
While, McKay deserves criticism for hamstringing his film, he deserves a ton of credit for its positives. The way he tells the story up until about 75% of the way through the movie is terrific. He makes his point, ducks out, and lets his script, and his actors do the work. However, things go off the rails for the film when things go off the rails for Cheney. Everything goes too fast and there’s this lack of dramatic weight. This leads to events like Cheney shooting someone in the face (featured so heavily in trailers) being passed offas a cheap joke. However, as messy as the ending is — there’s one plot twist McKay saves for the finale that’ll just wreck you as it’s a perfectly timed gut punch.
In the end, Vice is a good movie. A really good movie in fact. But it’s not great, and it should’ve been. McKay’s ambition to make a movie with strong messages got in the way of making a great movie. We never get to understand Cheney’s motivations outside of him wanting to be in power and not disappoint his wife. He wants you to outright accept Cheney’s motivations, and his character, but he wants to spoon feed you info you already know. Simply put, McKay’s fault in Vice is he tells when he should’ve showed, and shows when he should’ve told, and that hurts this film.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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