Everyone on “Vice"'s marketing team deserves a raise. I could not wait to see the movie, mostly due to a stellar trailer that focuses on the conversation where George W. Bush asks Dick Cheney to be his Vice President. The scene is tense and captivating, but nothing else in the movie comes close to echoing its greatness. I expected the film to focus on Cheney’s time in Bush’s administration, but it instead focuses on the totality of Cheney’s life, with mixed results.
The movie’s main issue is that it does not know what it wants to be. Director Adam McKay tries to mimic the tone of his previous movie “The Big Short”, a movie that deftly straddled the line between comedy and drama. The film was witty and satirical while still managing to passionately skewer the banking industry for the 2008 recession. It overflowed with directorial style with cut away scenes explaining complex financial topics and characters speaking directly to the camera. "Vice" tries to follow a similar formula but struggles to do so, as comedic moments distract from the story and the dramatic ones fail to resonate. Tonally, it is all over the place. McKay alternates between a satirical feel and a by-the-numbers biopic, and this lack of narrative direction ultimately sinks the film.
"Vice," like many other movies based on true stories, struggles to accurately depict its subjects. It over-dramatizes George W. Bush’s incompetence to almost offensive levels. Sam Rockwell’s portrayal of Bush, while frequently amusing, is wholly inaccurate with regards to his involvement and influence over important policy decisions in his White House. The film paints Cheney as the true man in charge, controlling every important decision of the Bush White House, which is simply untrue. Cheney played an instrumental role in this White House, of course, but the way Bush is portrayed in this movie is actually counter-productive, since it abdicates his responsibility for some of the worst policy decisions of the 21st century.
Sam Rockwell may have missed the mark in his depiction of Bush, but there were some truly outstanding performances in this movie. Christian Bale as Cheney is cold, calculated and heartless, all while infusing all of the nuance necessary for a character study of this complex figure. Bale, known for his commitment to weight gain and loss for roles, put on over 40 pounds for this role. This transformation, coupled with the fantastic work by the makeup artists on set, made Bale almost indistinguishable from Cheney himself, which only amplifies the effectiveness of Bale’s performance. "Vice" may not deserve any accolades, but Bale certainly deserved his recent Golden Globe win for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. Bale also secured an Oscar nomination for his role, and the film overall received six Golden Globe wins and eight Oscar nominations.
Steve Carell shines as secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld. He haunts every scene he is in, generating fear from subordinates in the film and the audience using his wicked sense of humor and power hungry attitude. In addition, Amy Adams plays Lynne Cheney, Dick’s wife, and she turns in a great performance, as usual, though her character has limited screen-time and is only given few moments to shine.
Unlike in “The Big Short”, McKay has nothing to add to the conversation about American politics. He opts for a shaky by-the-numbers biopic that does not raise any new or interesting questions about Cheney. The movie has interesting moments, simply because Cheney’s life and time in government is so intriguing. But it fails to capitalize on its subject matter, leading to a disappointing film overall.
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