I can’t recall genuinely enjoying a movie so much, but thinking to myself, “I wish it had less style.” Adam McKay throws every weird flourish and half-thought gimmick into the mix just in case you missed the one immediately preceding it, or in the hopes that the next one will make more sense. In addition, I was surprised to find out after the fact that Vice is meant to be a comedy. I don’t recall laughing very often and was unaware I was supposed to be doing so. But, even under these peculiar circumstances, I still found myself rather engaged with and enthralled by the project. Millions of Americans (and many, many more internationally) have been negatively affected by Dick Cheney’s policies, so I couldn’t help myself from enjoying this dig – even if it is scattered and messy.
The oddities I refer to are right out of the successful playbook McKay and company used in 2015’s The Big Short. They seem to get recycled here without much consideration. Sometimes they offer a bit of levity and breathing room, often they’re distracting, but, at least, they keep Vice from being boring. One might think to compare Vice to Oliver Stone’s W. from 2008, but, strangely, it’s more like his 1994 freak-out Natural Born Killers than anything else. In fact, if you knocked me unconscious and, upon waking, told me that Stone directed Vice instead of McKay, and that it was all a bad dream, I would have no trouble believing you. I’m not sure if that’s a compliment to Stone or a slight on McKay, or the other way around, but there it is nonetheless.
Vice features a who’s who of political villains and unscrupulous manipulators. It’s a scary story, and what makes it worse is that we already know that the evil these men perpetrated has already worked. They won – at least for now. I can’t imagine history being kind to them, but for now, people the world over are feeling the effects of their misdeeds. Vice certainly gets this point across, but what’s interesting is that it also manages to humanize a man who many see as a soulless opportunist. This is important because once it’s clear that someone like Dick Cheney is a mere mortal with the same brain functions as the rest of us, it becomes harder and harder for anyone to rationalize his actions. How could any human execute such wanton destruction and misery on whole populations? How does such a thirst for power and money go unchecked? By humanizing Cheney, McKay’s job of vilifying him becomes easier because we can’t see ourselves in him. In Science Fiction and Horror this is known as the “other” – something monstrous and alien to humankind.
Christian Bale will naturally be singled out for his portrayal of the former Vice President, but the entire cast is stellar. Amy Adams’ Lynne Cheney is nearly the opportunist her husband is while willingly adhering to conservative norms and roles of women. She’s a shark though, and the no-nonsense approach Adams takes as “the woman behind the man” is a force unto itself. Steve Carell and Sam Rockwell’s Donald Rumsfeld and George W. Bush might border on caricature if those of a certain age hadn’t spent all those years living under their influence and seeing them on TV every day. While possibly a bit exaggerated, Carell and Rockwell capture the spirit of these men. Their attitudes and motivations jive with what I know of them, and what I lived through while they were in power.
Even though many of McKay’s asides, time jumps, and explainers fall short of the mark, without them, Vice likely would have been boring. A rote and in-depth telling of the story is best reserved for the history textbooks Cheney’s saga will inevitably wind up in. Adding some flair – successful or not – was the right choice for this time and place. Vice is a primer for a more involved study of a dark time and dark deeds. Its exposition may be scattered, but its story is solid, and frightening in its implications. For that alone, it’s worth a look.
James is a writer, skateboarder, record collector, wrestling nerd, and tabletop gamer living with his family in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the North Carolina Film Critics Association, and contributes to The Daily Orca, Razorcake Magazine, Mountain Xpress, and Asheville Movies.