"Vice” is kind of a mess. It had the potential to be a witty political satire but the end result is a confusing, cumbersome story that doesn’t quite know when to end. Director Adam McKay tries to replicate the unique, quick-cutting style of “The Big Short” but this one lacks the charm of Margot Robbie randomly appearing and explaining confusing banking concepts. When creating a stylized film, it’s go big or go home and he just didn’t go big enough. There aren’t enough goofy moments throughout the film, making these quick cuts come off as non sequitur instead of the norm. I will say that Alfred Molina’s waiter cameo was a very clever way to present information and the false credit sequence was hilarious. But those felt like the exception within this dry, fairly cold story. There is also the issue of seeing this after Oscar nominations were released. It is one thing to walk into a satirical film without much expectation. It is very different to walk into a satirical film that has 8 Oscar nominations. Unfortunately, there are more-deserving films that were robbed of nominations for Picture, Director, Editing, Screenplay, and even some of the Acting categories. Sam Rockwell and Steve Carell provide over the top caricatures of George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. They are cartoonish in nature and were hilarious every time that they appeared onscreen. But when you contrast their exaggerated energy with Christian Bale’s exaggeration of Dick Cheney’s monotone, Bale comes off as boring. This is the antithesis of what this film was aiming for! And two hours is a long time to watch a story centered around a boring performance. That being said, Cheney was well-written as a masterminded villain and it doesn’t take away from Bale’s dedication of putting on 40 lbs in order to properly embody the character. His resemblance is uncanny and the film will likely win the Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar for his transformation. Like Rockwell and Bale, Amy Adams earned an Oscar nomination. Her performance as Lynne Cheney is good but there is no moment that screams “Oscar nomination!” I look at all of these acting nominations and expect this to be one of the best films ever but it just doesn’t feel that way. I read an interesting article that pointed out that, aside from Bale’s transformation, none of the actors really look like their real life characters so the film feels like a 2-hour SNL skit. I wanted to love “Vice” but honestly, I hope that it doesn’t win any Oscars (outside of the well-deserved Makeup award) so that people won’t feel pressured to sit through it. Now, a movie centered around Sam Rockwell’s Bush impersonation… that is something that I could get behind.
[Pictured: The
main flaw of this film is Bale’s placement amongst high-energy characters, who
continually detract from his performance]
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