Vice

This feels like a weird period of time for this movie to come out. I understand why it took this long, it's clearly a pet project of director Adam McKay, who's railed against the Bush Administration since his time at SNL, and it took the success of The Big Short to get him the necessary clout. But putting out a movie about a supreme powerful vice president abusing executive powers during the Trump Administration feels strange. So is this a mistimed masterpiece or McKay getting in his shots at Cheney while he has the chance?

The movie covers the life of Dick Cheney from his early hard-drinking years to his political rise and eventually his time as the nation's Vice President. But what made him stand out among a series of forgotten names?

Vice is well-intentioned, but unfocused. The script is trying to do too much. It's trying to give a detailed account of Dick Cheney's entire life, point of the abuses and failures of the Bush Administration, and highlight his personal hypocrisies. All with darkly funny touches about how gross and aloof Cheney his inner circle were.

McKay has successful merged disparate elements and tones before, i.e. The Big Short, but that movie had a clear focal point and end-goal with jokes about how dumb the royal we were about the housing bubble. But it would also take time to lecture the characters and audience about what the housing bubble meant for so many.

Vice has blips of these moments, but unfortunately McKay filters them with a series of quick cuts that don't let the impact linger. Case in point a scene involving his daughter has more weight than his green light for torture programs.

That's not to say the movie is without merit. There are some amazing jokes and moments that are deeply affecting and effective (that I won't spoil here) that I wish other biopics would use. But they don't add up to a satisfying whole.

As you'd expect Christian Bale gives a committed as hell performance as the titular vice (with many thanks to the costuming and makeup department) and drifts between his human and ruthless political moments with ease. Likewise, Amy Adams gives another award-worthy performance as the motivated Lynne Cheney and Sam Rockwell might've delivered the best George W. Bush portrayal ever (it's the calm nature of his accent).

I also appreciate the idea of filling your cast with predominantly comedic actors (i.e. Steve Carrell) to emphasize how out of place these men are in matters involving citizens. If you can make Tyler Perry comes across as the most logical man in the room, you've done something right.

Verdict: Mixed Messages

Though it has bright spots, Vice is a mixed movie-going experience that can't capitalize on its intriguing source material. 6/10.