Adam McKay’s (The Big Short, Anchorman – The Legend Of Ron Burgundy) Vice almost suffered from a trailer that depicted a movie that looked like a spoof. With The Killers’ hit song Who’s The Man playing in the background and a nearly unrecognizable Christian Bale (Hostiles, American Hustle) almost dancing to the beat in between intermittent lines of him hyping himself up or talking about how he’s going to break all the rules when he becomes Vice President of the United States, McKay’s latest movie plays more like the Will Ferrell/Zach Galifianakis underrated comedy The Campaign that it does a biopic in the realm of Nixon, Lincoln, or Thirteen Days. Its nomination category at this year’s Golden Globe awards was “Comedy.” But while Vice is constantly entertaining and is filmed in a way that, at times, feels like a mockumentary, it is very much a drama, one that you’ll sometimes feel guilty laughing at even during the moments that are meant to be humorous.

With a runtime of 132 minutes, less than a stellar critic and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes (62% and 54% respectively), and a trailer that disengaged me from the first time I saw it, I was anything but interested in seeing this movie. However, my love for Christian Bale as an actor and the fact that it looks like, despite what audiences and critics think, that this film is going to earn a Best Picture nominee, I knew I would have to see it and probably review it anyway so why not be more entertained on the big screen and see it now rather than at home a month from now when my interest my wane even more. I saw this film on $5 Wednesdays at my local cinema, and this was probably the first film that I’ve seen in a year that was sold out. And from what I could tell, everyone was keen and engaged in this movie from its opening sequences as I was. This was the surprise movie of the year because I had absolutely no confidence that I would enjoy it only to come out of it thinking how I would have missed out had I not experienced it on the silver screen with a crowd of others.

Of course, there are two sides to every story, and Vice is an extremely one-sided take on Dick Cheney. But if even half the stuff he said was true, one could argue that this is one of the worst human beings who ever lived. However, this is not a political post, and I will evaluate the movie from a movie standpoint. If some of what this movie claims Cheney did are true, it can make for a difficult transition from one scene to the next when the subsequent scene is designed to invoke laughter. Some might feel guilty for laughing minutes after watching a scene that questions the ethics of the lead character, who just happened to be one of the most powerful men of the start of the 21st century. However, McKay’s progressions from scene to scene are done so with a purposefulness that doesn’t allow thoughts to linger. There’s just not a lot of downtime in this movie.

I mentioned that this movie was completely engrossing. Don’t worry about the two-hour and twelve-minute runtime. You won’t notice it all. And I say that from the perspective of someone who sees a ton of movies. As a kid, I was a fan of longer movies because I didn’t go to them very often. Now, as an adult, I see over 50 movies a year in the theater, and anything over about 105 minutes can often cause me to groan. However, Vice is created in a way that will entertain. McKay shoots this movie in a way that is very similar to his 2015 Academy Award Best Picture Nominee movie The Big Short. There are deliberate breaks in the storytelling for narrator Kurt (Jesse Plemmons – Black Mass, The Program) to break down a concept for us or give us more background information about a particular scene. It worked very well for The Big Short. And it worked very well here too. It just felt repetitive. For as unique as it felt in his 2015 movie, it felt like McKay was going back to the same well again. I’m not knocking the style because it worked for this movie. It just seemed like he was duplicating the same technique. And, who knows, maybe that will be his style for his future movies too. The problem with this movie was certainly not the direction.

Nor was the problem with this movie the acting. This is a Top-5 Christian Bale performance for sure. And it might even be number one. He is certain to nab his fourth Oscar nomination (second for Best Performance in a Lead Role). And he might even win. I personally think it’s going to come down to Bale, Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born), or Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody). And quite honestly, any of the performances are worthy of the award. While I talk about Bale, I cannot help but first mention makeup in this movie. Vice is a lock for a Best Makeup and Hairstyling Academy Award nomination, and I think it’s all but given that it will take home the award. Bale is playing a character who is some 25 years his senior for most of the movie. But, you forget that it is Bale playing a role. Bale immerses himself in a real-life character that is similar in a way that will remind you of Daniel Day-Lewis. His look, his talk, his mannerisms are all perfect. He was the perfect choice for the role despite initial thinking that he would be the furthest thing from the right selection. His Cheney is mostly in his days as Vice President of the United States (2001 – 2009), but we also get flashbacks to when he was a college freshman who got kicked out of Yale for poor grades as a result of his partying ways as well as the decade after that from when Cheney made a name of himself in the political ranks as a congressional intern for congressman turned Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carell – Foxcatcher, Battle of the Sexes), the youngest ever Chief of Staff for the President of the United States, congressman for the state of Wyoming, and Chief Executive Officer of Halliburton Oil Services.

The movie portrays Cheney as having had far more influence and power than any previous Vice President of the United States. It portrays George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, The Way Way Back) as being highly ignorant of many matters, bypassed completely on many others, and swayed by Cheney on even more. Honestly, it portrays Cheney as having much more power and influence on the country in many matters regarding Defense/National Security. Vice claims that Cheney and Rumsfeld played on the average US citizen’s lack of knowledge on the 9/11 attacks to wage war against Saddam Hussein and Iraq. And that’s just the start of it. Again, this is not a political movie review post, but if what I just mentioned at all whets your appetite, your draw will drop as you watch this film.

Rockwell was fantastic as Bush. I wasn’t as sold on Carell as Rumsfeld. Never did I feel like it was not Carell behind that character. I wouldn’t say Carell overacted or anything like that. I just think he was the wrong choice. But for that miss, McKay struck gold with casting Amy Adams (Nocturnal Animals, Arrival) as Dick’s assertive and loyal wife, Linda. Faithful to the core, Linda stood behind her husband and was often the driving voice in his life (for better or worse) as he made decisions in his life. I was about to write “struggled to make decisions in his life,” but it never felt like Dick struggled (at least based on the movie). Yes, he made some major life decision choices, most regarding his career trajectory and some softer ones with his family, but it never felt like he was torn in his decision-making. He thought about things, weighed the pros against the cons, made his decision confidently, and didn’t look back. The same could be said of Linda. Finally, in a lesser role, was an outstanding Tyler Perry (Alex Cross, Meda Gets a Job) as Secretary of State Colin Powell, a man who was, allegedly, used by Cheney and Rumsfeld because he had the highest trustworthy rating in the Bush administration to give a speech which he did not feel comfortable giving because he wasn’t sure he had all the right facts and later referred to it as the lowest point in his life. Perry portrays Powell at this moment as a man who has been worn down, does something he isn’t 100% behind, and wears that grief…all while on camera for the world to see.

The lasting thoughts I’ll give about Vice is that I’m glad that I saw it. I won’t state my personal feelings on the story or how it was portrayed, but I’m glad I watched it. As mentioned, I never thought I would ever see it after seeing the first trailer. I liked the film a lot, though. With that said, I’ll never watch it again. Once was enough for me. This film will finish just outside my Top 10 movies of 2018. I am uncertain why the critic and audience score was so low other than to maybe guess that some people who disagreed with the story or the way it was slanted because of their political views might have given it an unfavorable rating alone. 62% critics and 54% audience seem way too low, especially when everyone that I know gave it a favorable review and the audience that I watched it with was deeply absorbed in the story the whole time. Couple that with the likelihood that this movie will earn multiple Oscar nominations and win at least a couple, and the low scores don’t add up. I would see this movie. Though if you are a deeply-rooted Republican or a fan of the Bush administration, you might leave feeling much madder than you did when you sat down. Actually, the same could be said for a deeply-rooted Democrat or someone who was not a fan at all of the Bush administration…

Plot 9/10
Character Development 8.5/10
Character Chemistry 8.5/10
Acting 9.5/10
Screenplay 8.5/10
Directing 9/10
Cinematography 9.5/10
Sound 9/10
Hook and Reel 9.5/10
Universal Relevance 10/10
91%