Vice

Ten Second Review: While there is a clear image and narrative of Dick Cheney being put forward, you cannot deny the mastery of craft that Adam McKay exhibits. However you feel about the former Vice President, this is a film worth seeing. 

Whichever way you lean, Dick Cheney is quite a legendary figure in American politics. His story is one of of an out and out career politician who dipped into the private sector when he saw fit to make in roads in other industries (yes, I’m referring to American politics as an industry). Vice doesn’t seek to just tell Cheney’s life story but also looks at how this merging of politics and business became central to governing in the US. 

Rather predictably, the film takes a broad view of Cheney’s whole life with a quite strict focus on his political career. It makes mention of his other ventures but they certainly play background to the main political narrative. We trace his journey from intern through to his eventual role as one of the most influential Vice Presidents in history. We meet a who’s who of American politics and are given allusions to what came after.

First and fore most we have to address the shots this film takes. While it is a film about the past 50 to 60 years in American politics it also takes its fair amount of shots at the current administration. From the way it looks at Lynne’s reaction to the Nixon resignation, to its ominous lines about who and what controls the American government, the film has a clear bias and intent. That being said, even if you happen to lean against the tilt of this film, I still recommend you see it. Whether you treat it as a work of fiction so as to shield your eyes or take it as gospel (both would be ridiculous), it is an excellent piece of film making that might well challenge people on both sides of the aisle at certain points.

Adam McKay’s direction is really something to revel in. Following from The Big Short, he continues with his incredible combination of making sure to consistently alert the audience that they are watching a film while also reminding you that what you are seeing happened. The combination of fourth wall breaking and an ever-present wink at the audience with almost documentary style excerpts, really leaves you with a blurred conception of where the film ends and where the fact begins. McKay plays with our conceptions of what a film should look like and how it should behave by jumping back and fourth in time, jumping back and fourth between archival footage and the film and tieing it together by reminding us of what’s to come with an omniscient narrator who acknowledges that we already know the ending too. I can’t wait for his next project in this vein of his work.

However, as good as you can be as a director and writer, a film like this could not work without the excellent casting. While Christian Bale in the title role is an obvious highlight and an extraordinary piece of acting, he is getting the due credit he deserves. Elsewhere the cast isn’t being praised quite so much and that’s a travesty. Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld, Sam Rockwell as George W Bush and The incomparable Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney are all phenomenal. To be honest the whole cast is a joy to watch but the central characters really are just such a great ensemble.

Everyone is of course welcome to their opinions but as it’s hard to have a sincere opinion about something you haven’t seen I strongly suggest you see this film. I will caution those with a more delicate disposition that there are some scenes that some might find quite hard to watch (they involve torture/dead bodies/terrorist attacks). To everyone else, beyond being an incredibly interesting film, it is a brilliant and intelligent piece of craft. Whether you’re intrigued by the subject or by the medium of film, this is one to go see.