(I would say spoilers ahead, but this all happened in real life. Is it actually a spoiler if you know the ending because you watched the news any time from 2001-2009? Whatever. There are spoilers for Vice throughout this post)
Yes, I know I’m late here. This movie came out on Christmas, but I didn’t get the chance to go see it until last night. However, it just so happened that Oscar nominations came out this morning, and Vice got nominated for eight of them. If you ask me, the nominations were well-deserved, especially for the acting performances.
Vice tells the story of the rise of Dick Cheney, who quietly worked his way to the top of the American government throughout the later half of the 20th century and eventually became the most powerful Vice President in United States history. Adam McKay does a great job of telling a serious story with a good sense of humor. The best example of this is that Cheney’s multiple heart attacks become a recurring joke without making it feel too dark or cheap. Extrapolate that tone over a whole movie, and you have Vice.
McKay At first, this method of storytelling was somewhat disorienting to me, but once I settled in it really helped tell the story. It’s narrated by Kurt (Jesse Plemons), a man who seemingly has nothing to do with Cheney (although it’s revealed in the end that Kurt dies and his heart is given to Cheney, pulling him back from the brink of death). For the most part, Kurt’s job as narrator is to push the story along and explain political terms that are thrown around throughout the movie. Plemons does a good job in this role.
The real highlight of this movie, though, is Christian Bale’s performance as Cheney. Bale was unbelievable in this role. Bale completely embodied Cheney in looks, movement, facial expression, voice, you name it. This movie was full of great acting performances (Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney and Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush were both nominated for Oscars), but Bale’s performance especially stood out. Really, the only acting performance I didn’t love in this movie was Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld. The character just reminded me of a smarter version of Brick Tamland from Anchorman. I suppose that’s on me as the viewer associating an actor with one of his former roles, but I just couldn’t get past that thought once it popped into my head.
This movie was an enjoyable watch. It has a 54% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, but I think that’s really for two main reasons:
1. It’s a political biopic that rails against one side of the aisle. That’s going to ruffle feathers no matter what.
2. It doesn’t have a happy ending like a lot of biopics do. The movie ends with Cheney telling his older daughter to speak out against the legalization of gay marriage despite the fact that his younger daughter is a lesbian. Cheney talks directly into the camera about doing what’s necessary to obtain power and protect people, then the movie ends. I can see how that would turn some people off as they’re leaving the movie.
Still, I really liked this movie. It wasn’t my personal favorite movie that I saw this year, but it was very well-made and it deserves the critical acclaim that it’s getting.
P.S. Bale was well deserving of his Best Actor nod, and let me say this: if Rami Malek wins for Best Actor over Bale, I’m boycotting the Oscars. Bale and Ramek had the same job (perfectly mimic someone else who actually existed), and Bale was much better at it than Malek.
ReJoyce 