Vice Is A Bold And Clever Satirical Piece With Fantastic Acting By Christian Bale

      

      Making a biography to a person's life is a challenging task as the filmmakers have both an obligation to be as accurate to the facts surrounding that person's life as much as possible, while making the story both entertaining and appealing for its specific target audience. In the case of Vice, the filmmakers take a bold initiative by covering the political career of Dick Cheney while incorporating both humor as well as satire to the proceedings. It can be argued that the film aims to point an unflattering picture of the controversial ex-Vice President, as well as taking a shot at their administration, but the film aims for the most part to remain as well-balanced in regards to showing the rise of Dick Cheney as being a political insider in Washington to becoming Vice-president as much as possible. What could've easily ended up being a boring and rather bland autobiography that glorifies it's counterpart turns out to be an entertaining, often funny, well-acted, and provocative film that shows Cheney's surprising rise in stature with the film posing some hard-hitting questions along with the reflection of reality. Vice is certainly not everyone's cup of tea in terms of being a widely appealing film, but it's a well-handled one that works due to the pure craftsmanship of both it's actors and filmmakers. With the role of Dick Cheney, Christian Bale proves once again why he's one of the greatest actors of his generation as the idea of him playing Dick Cheney may comes across as sounding unbelievable at first until the audience witnesses the transformation from actor to character as he totally nails it. Vice is unquestionably one of the best performances to come out in 2018 with the film being one of the strongest for those willing to give it a chance.

      The story for Vice gives both a complexed and satirical examination into how Dick Cheney (Played by Christian Bale), a consummate Washington insider and career politician, managed to turn whats essentially viewed as being a mostly ineffective position of being Vice President into an incredibly powerful position of command during the administration of President George W. Bush (Played surprisingly well by Sam Rockwell), as well as showing his response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Vice makes its intentions known early on that its portrayal of Cheney is one that leans towards being one that's unflattering and even condemning at times with it's attempt to educate the audience on Cheney's rise through the political establishment of the Republican Party, while showing the character himself to be a rather complexed figure. While the filmmakers fire direct shots at Cheney as well as reminding the audience of the damage both him and his administration did to both the country and the world during their run in the White House, they also present moments where Cheney acted less like a Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars style figure behind the curtain and more of a human being who carried common flaws such as gambling and excessive drinking, yet also cared about the well-being of his family. The film manages to develop other members of the Bush administration with showing the business relationship between Donald Rumsfield (Played well by Steve Carrell) and Dick Cheney, while also showing Cheney meeting and observing how inexperienced W. Bush is as a candidate while seizing the opportunity to become his Vice President as a form of power grab. The filmmakers make it a point to take scattershots at numerous people throughout the film while showing Cheney's rise in stature. The satirical aspect of the film goes a long way in regards to maintaining the audiences interest with the story along with the stellar performances from it's main talented cast with Bale stealing the show with his commanding yet transformative performance. As a film, Vice manages to find a perfect balance of both history and satire that makes it engrossing for the audience to watch, while serving as both a refresher and eye-opener in regards to educating people on the decision making that triggered some of the most significant events in the 21st century, which forever changed the political spectrum along with the world.

      As far as the films acting performances go, the cast as a whole does a fantastic job of bringing their real life counterparts to life with Christian Bale knocking it out of the park as Dick Cheney. Not only does he manage to completely own the part but gets his mannerisms, patterns of speaking, and coldness down to perfection. His emotional acting is as equally impressive as his physical transformation, showing audiences that he represents the kind of dedication and commitment upon playing his roles that's barely seen nowadays. He chews up each scene that he's in while leaving an undeniable impact on the screen. Amy Adams manages to rise to the level that Bale set with his performance and meets him head on with her strong performance as Dick's wife Lynne Cheney. She does very well playing a cold and square Lady Macbeth type character whose less likable than her husband, pushing him to extend his position to gain more power and stature. The two showcase great on screen chemistry together with their characters driving the story. When looking at the real life Dick and Lynne, one would be hard-pressed to picture these two as being the ideal choices to portray them on screen but both actors manage to successfully pull it off in a sweeping fashion making their separate Oscar nominations well-deserved. In addition to the strong performances delivered by Bale and Adams, Sam Rockwell manages to rise to the occasion with his spot-on performance of George W. Bush, not only acting similar to the ex-president in terms of voice but sharing a similar physical presence. The rest of the supporting cast delivers solid performances with Steve Carrell being surprisingly good as crazy Secretary Of Defense Donald Rumsfield, Tyler Perry delivering a small yet effective performance as Colin Powell, LisaGay Hamilton as Condoleezza Rice, Allison Pill as Mary Cheney, and Lily Rabe as Lib Cheney. Overall, the cast is terrific and bring a great deal of believability to the story with each actor/actress feeling like the appropriate casting choice for their roles. Outside of the films direction and writing, the performances of the actors were always going to be the key to making the story work, which thankfully is the case here.

      Another element which the film owes its success to is the satirical style of the story laid out by director Adam McKay. Here he puts his craftsmanship as a filmmaker on full display, making a biography that's both entertaining and fun to watch while churning out a stronger film than his previous collaboration with Christian Bale on 2015's The Big Short. McKay manages to incorporate humor into the story while making it flashy and appealing. He allows his actors enough room to breathe life into their roles with the films technical elements such as the art-set decoration and costume design complimenting the story. The editing and score by Nicholas Britell are both effective and keep the story moving and afloat with giving it an extra shot of energy, Particularly the films soundtrack selections. The films editing keeps the story structure
well-balanced and flowing with the film playing as a biography disguised in the form of a dark comedy. One only has to look at Britell's filmography to determine that he's a filmmaker who incorporates abstracts and non-stick humor into his projects. McKay's choice of using a narrative character within the story feels awkward, though helps to deliver information to the audience regarding the plot while keeping both the continuity and story structure of the film intact. While this may appear to be a clever gimmick that keeps his stories fresh and engaging with most audiences, it can also make certain moments of the film come across as being fragmented for others with the humor feeling a bit out of place. For the most part, McKays approach to directing Vice works as he was able to find the right balance of satire and humor to go with the films historic elements, while building up the main characters.

      Another level of genius behind the films directing lies within the writing also by McKay. The film spends the core of it's time showing Cheney's rise in stature as a political insider in Washington whether it's through his business dealings with a loose cannon Donald Rumsfield, or through the persistence of his wife to become a more powerful force in the government. The film presents Cheney as being an opportunist who helped change and reshape the political landscape throughout the last several decades, while pushing the boundaries of what a Vice Presidental position entails. Although the film clearly aims to condemn both Cheney and the Bush administration for their illegal actions in regards to the War with Iraq, the film makes an attempt to humanize their character and make them understandable in the eyes of the audience. The film not just points the finger at Cheney for helping to create today's political landscape, but also condemns the audiences complacence for allowing it to happen and continue (The films opening narration explaining who Cheney was with the publics passiveness and lack of awareness about his position being a perfect example). The film also never truly leans fully into being a conventional biopic as the films darkly comical moments emerge to remind audiences that the film is a mixture of a biography meshed together with satire. Whereas that might make the film appear to be fragmented at certain points, both elements find a way to work well together that ultimately makes it a stronger film to Oliver Stones 2008 biopic on Bush Jr. titled W. The films final sequence involving a post-presidency interview with Cheney plays off the whole breaking the fourth wall aspect of the story which Deadpool popularized while perfectly summing up Cheney's character. While this approach to the story might put off some viewers as well as the film itself leaning towards a more liberal perspective on the actions of Cheney and W, the film manages to find the perfect blend of seriousness and humor to make it work ultimately.

      While Vice is by no means a perfect film (It's satirical and biographical mixture despite working well together, can also come across as feeling a bit messy at times with the film also having scenes involving quick cuts that feel awkward), it proves to be highly effective in what it sets out to do while effectively demonstrating that the actions of both Vice President Dick Cheney as well as those in his circle did a great deal of damage to both security and political freedom with the end result continuing to occur today. Vice is a stylish and brilliant film, that finds a way to tell it's story in a form that's both entertaining and eye-opening for it's audience much in a fashion similar to the end of Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman. Given that it's story spans the course of almost four decades, it does an impressive job of working all the main events of Cheney's career into it's story with a running time of just over two hours. What could've easily ended up being a total condemnation of Cheney both as a politician and person, turns out to be surprisingly well-balanced as McKay portrays him as being both power hungry as well as being a husband and father whose purely devoted to his family. With Vice, McKay impressively creates an atmosphere that feels real to the audience with the story carrying a mixture of being funny, insightful, and ultimately disturbing. He makes no efforts in hiding his contempt for the events depicted in the film as he shows them to be over-the-top and ridiculous, but makes the story appealing enough to where any form of audience can understand and get drawn into it. Vice will not be a film for everyone and come across as feeling heavily divisive with the conclusions it draws (It's political nature and direction it leans towards will automatically turn some viewers off), but it's deserving of it's praise largely thanks to McKay's stylish directing as well as the fantastic performances from Christian Bale and Amy Adams. If one wants a better understand of how today's political climate was molded along with the events leading up to it, then they should most definitely check out this film. The film can be fun to watch but often disturbing and sad with the film explaining in the stats during the credits the consequences of Cheney and his administrations actions resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people both American and Islamic as well as contributing to the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq. It's a film that sets out to do exactly what it was intended for which is to entertain its audience, while giving insight into one of the most controversial political forces in history as well as making people think, reflect, and question why America and the rest of the world ended up with certain problems they're currently still trying to resolve.

Final Verdict: For those who enjoy good old- fashioned satirical films, or wish to get a better understanding of today's climate of American politics, Vice is the film to see.