Vice Review (2018): Bale is Great, but Does Cheney Deserve this Much Screen Time?
This was my most anticipated movie of 2018. This is directed by Adam McKay, who also directed The Big Short in 2015, which was not only my favorite movie of that year, I designated it a spot in my Top 10 Movies of All Time, like, as I was leaving the theater. And Vice has two of the leads from that returning here (Christian Bale and Steve Carell), plus Amy Adams and Sam Rockwell, who can do no wrong. Plus, this was another hot take on recent real-life events (the life of Dick Cheney), just like The Big Short (2008 financial crisis). Mix it all together and I was psyched out of my mind.
The thing about expectations though is that you expect things. I expected risky storytelling, great writing, and incredible performances. And I would say I got one great performance (Bale) and several fine performances, but largely forgettable. The storytelling didn’t feel all that compelling, nor did the screenplay. So “disappointed” feels appropriate to describe how I felt leaving the theater — whereas leaving the theater for The Big Short, I think I jumped and pumped my fist in the air or something.
The other night, seeing Christian Bale accept his Golden Globe for his performance in this was a jaw-dropper because, while I know what he looks like and how he sounds in real life, the last time I saw him, he just was Dick Cheney — who, sure, I have never met, but this was some next level metamorphosis. And, sadly, Cheney is not particularly winsome on camera (in at least McKay’s interpretation of him). Nor is he all that interesting. And whose (apparent) worldview is quite bleak. So we have an award-worthy performance, but do we have a feature-length worthy character?
We see Cheney back in his early days, before he’s married to Lynne, his rise to power in Washington, the events of his Vice Presidency and then (bleak) bits of his life since 2008. McKay starts the film with text, essentially asking for forgiveness for any inaccuracies because Cheney’s activities were so secretive during his vice presidency. And Cheney is a private person. So McKay casts his own shadow of ambiguity over the events we’re about to see. So again, I find myself asking: is there a feaure-worthy story here?
And in any narrative, inspired by true events or totally fictional, the audience needs clues about motive, the driving force, the ambitions of its characters. And it can be anything from something as altruistic as getting the ring back to Mordor, to something as nefarious the Joker just wanting to “watch the world burn.” And McKay essentially reveals his version of the answer early on here, in a scene in Cheney’s first job in the White House during a conversation with Steve Carell’s Donald Rumsfeld. Cheney asks, “so what do we…believe?” and Rumsfeld laughs in his face, turns and closes the door to his office, behind which he can still be heard in hysterics. This gives Cheney the greenlight to seek power for power’s sake, devoid of scruples or even guiding principles? So Cheney has the moral compass and political aspirations of Frank Underwood? That very well may be true, but there’s a reason I (and a lot of other people) stopped watching House of Cards around season 4. That type of un-nuanced bleakness gets tiresome.
The Big Short is so effective because it takes a complex, boring story that feels far away and makes it digestible, exciting and relevant. Vice misses in this translation of Cheney’s life to the big screen for a viewer. What do I do with all these pieces of his life that I am seeing as a viewer?
6/10, which breaks my heart. I needed a more ambitious screenplay, humor, and charm in general. I’ll be ride or die for McKay forever I think, but I wanted to feel about Dick Cheney the way I felt about Corporate greed in 2008. And not in the sense of their black and white good vs. evil aspects, but in their relevance and scrutability.
