Vice (2018)
[Reader disclaimer: there will be spoilers discussed].
Alright. I'm going to open with my generalised statement for this movie: it's not my favourite. I have no intention of ever watching this film again. This is not to say that it is a bad film, just not one that I would consider to be in league with the other nominees in Best Picture.
That being said, let's dive in. So, Vice (2018) is another political biopic, concerning itself with the life and career of Republican official, Dick Cheney (played by Christian Bale). I will admit that I am not very attuned to the political climate in the United States (as I am a lowly reviewer from England, UK), so had I not watched this for my blog, I would never have been inclined to pick it up and give it a watch. The only socio-political biopic based in America that I can think of off the top of my head (that I enjoyed, I mean) is probably Frost/Nixon (2008) and that's from 10 years ago now.
So, because I'm not well-versed in American politics, perhaps I was not as engaged as an average American would be. But I believe a biopic (especially one that is up for Best Picture) should have a universal appeal, which I'd argue that Vice does not.
I'd say that this film toes the line between satirical and just plain silly: it needed to lean one way or the other, because some sections depicted Cheney and his lackies as cartoonish villains and then other sections would try to humanise them. I ended up wondering whether Adam McKay, director of Vice, should've stuck to inserting politics into comedy rather than the other way round because this format didn't really work for me.
That being said, there were parts of this film that I truly appreciated. The use of freeze frames and voice over felt akin to the works of Martin Scorsese mashed up with the hilariously propagandised works of Paul Verhoeven, giving the film an interesting and unique tone.
The bizarre segments interspersed within the narrative, including a Shakespearean-esque soliloquy, Cheney's fourth wall break, an end credit sequence mid-way through the film (a stylistic choice used as a kind of 'fakeout') and a post-credit scene of characters debating the possible political bias of the film, made Vice stand out from past biopics: this accompaniment of an unreliable narrator and disregard for general filmmaking rules made it an entertaining watch.
However, this film has a glaring problem. It may end up demonising Cheney and his Republican posse but I don't think Vice is entitled to its merit on the basis that it's a political film. BlacKkKlansman (2018) is a political film but I hold it in higher regard than Vice because it gives us something worth watching: the empowerment of minorities and the struggles they face as a community. Vice is about yet another old, white, male politician, abusing his power within a systematic country with far too much power for its own good. If I wanted to watch that again, I'd just stick The Ides of March (2011) on.
Overall, anything included in this film can be garnered from five minutes traipsing Wikipedia, rendering the movie's information obsolete: stylistically, yes, it's rather interesting and worth watching, but the plot holds no real substance.
What's it nominated for?
Currently, Vice is nominated for:
- Best Picture - Adam McKay, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Megan Ellison, Will Ferrell, Kevin J. Messick and Brad Pitt
- Best Actor - Christian Bale
- Best Supporting Actor - Sam Rockwell
- Best Supporting Actress - Amy Adams
- Best Director - Adam McKay
- Best Original Screenplay - Adam McKay
- Best Film Editing - Hank Corwin
- Best Makeup - Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia Dehaney-Le May
Should it win?
In the simplest possible way: absolutely not. I think it has a shot at Best Makeup but that's about it: it is outranked in pretty much every single category it's nominated for, which is such a shame because both Sam Rockwell and Amy Adams gave stellar performances respectively.
Overall rating: 5/10
- K
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