Vice

Score:  A-

Directed by Adam McKay
Starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell
Running time: 132 minutes
Rated R

Long Story Short:  Vice is another funny yet serious look at modern history from Adam McKay (The Big Short), this time focusing on the rise of Dick Cheney.  Christian Bale disappears into the lead role in an astounding performance, and co-stars Amy Adams and Steve Carell are essential companions in Cheney's personal and political lives, respectively.  It does have a point-of-view on this controversial man, but wherever you may stand, let it entertain you even as it forces you to confront a major turning point in today's world.


In 1963, Dick Cheney (Bale) toils away as a lineman in his native Wyoming, listless and angry due to alcohol and his failure at Yale.  After his wife Lynne (Adams) threatens to leave him, however, Cheney begins to look for a new direction.  Several years later he finds himself as an intern in Washington, under the tutelage of Donald Rumsfeld (Carell).  The two rise high, and become President Ford's chief of staff and Secretary of Defense, respectively.  During the 80s, Cheney, now a Congressman, takes an interest in the energy industry and foreign policy; however, with Bush's defeat in 1992 and the revelation of his daughter's sexual orientation, he decides to retire from politics.  Yet the presidential aspirations of George W. (Rockwell) awakens Cheney to a new realm of possibilities.  Becoming his running mate, Cheney increases his own power and control, and it is thus his fateful decisions after 9/11 that lead to long-term consequences for the entire world.

Vice has a phenomenal core cast that brings this biographical dramedy to life.  Christian Bale is amazing as Cheney.  Similar to Oldman as Churchill last year, Bale undergoes a complete physical transformation, from his considerable extra weight to impressive cosmetics.  But it's his acting that makes you truly believe you are watching Cheney himself.  He captures all the physical mannerisms, from the distinctive twists of his face as he talks to the sound and rhythm of his speech to his mere stride down a hallway.  Yet Bale does not just create an impressive physical facsimile of his subject; he projects a real person under it all, joyful with his daughters and family as well as poisoned bit by bit through first those around him, then increasingly his own words and actions.  His physical deterioration is but a symbolic complement to the deadening weight we gradually see in his eyes.  Amy Adams is awesome as his wife, Lynne, as well, even if she is overshadowed, as everyone is, by Bale's bravura performance.  She portrays a strong woman from start to finish, almost literally pulling Dick up by his bootstraps and holding him up the whole way.  Adams shows real fire power in several scenes, as Lynne moves from concerned spouse to ruthless power broker.  Steve Carell gives yet another great performance, here as Donald Rumsfeld.  His role ebbs and flows through the film, but Carell makes the quirky, enigmatic man as intriguing as Cheney.  It is also a crucial one, both pivotal in shaping personally Cheney's outlook early, and embodying both the giddiness of cold calculation and the despair of inevitable chaos.  Sam Rockwell leads the rest as George W., doing a fine job with his typical character player zest, and various members of Cheney's family and inner circle add value here and there.

Vice is a very well-made biographical movie, whose choice to combine both humor and drama on a very controversial subject gets you to think though comes up short of true enlightenment.  The film comes with an apt preface that "... Dick Cheney is known as one of the most secretive leaders in recent history. But we did our fucking best."  After a brief intro taking place in the command-and-control room during 9/11 - perhaps the pivotal moment of Cheney's life - we essentially follow the man's life from 1963 through the near present.  There is naturally a significant amount of guesswork needed to fill in the gaps on Cheney, so the humorous edge to the film allows it to say, "we know not everything here is 100% accurate (what biopic can be, really?) - so we're mostly going to spell out the differences for you."  There is overlap of the tones occasionally, which sometimes works great - Cheney and his wife plotting in bed using Shakespearean dialogue - and others not as much - the Fox News "updates".  While I've been a big fan of the recent trend of super-focused biopics (Lincoln, Selma), the more traditional sprawl of this narrative here is appropriate.  Trying to puzzle out how Cheney became the polarizing figure that he did is the mission, and while the film doesn't pull its punches, it also definitely does not portray Cheney's final/current form as inevitable.  In some ways it is an exhausting film, right around the maximum reasonable length, but it's never dull and wisely has a major pivot point - the decision to become W.'s running mate - where the structure changes course, moving away from chronological (an important element in the first half) to one more theme-driven (developing the unitary theory, working on the Iraq "evidence", etc.).  The film isn't able to ultimately develop a profoundly new interpretation of Cheney himself, but it does give plenty to think about in terms of the general power (and peril) of ambition and lust for control.  And the final ten minutes are lights-out excellent: Cheney is acutely perceptive of how the world has changed around him in some ways, yet utterly blind to his true role in it and thus what it all means.

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Vice is a very good film, one that's both entertaining and a part of an important process for our society to undertake.  I cannot overstate just how good Christian Bale is, and Amy Adams and Steve Carell provide dynamite supporting characters to create a believable recreation of this narrative.  There is plenty of humor - some of it, yes, is either of a queasy/stomach-churning kind to some or simply offputting to others - but much of it is universally enjoyable.  The balance of this humor with the seriousness of the topic is maintained well through most of the film, and the ending provides the kind of passion that few films approach.  Now, I also say this is part of an important process in that we need to have a dialogue in society about how we got where we are ("where we are" having many different meanings).  Yes, the filmmakers of Vice have a viewpoint on that, but it also acknowledges that the story is a very complex one with many shades of gray, as is our path in the present.  So regardless of where you might stand on this controversial man, I urge you to give it a try (at the theater or at home) and let it both entertain you and make you think.




By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59040750