Vice (2018)

Director: Adam McKay

Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell

The story of Dick Cheney, an unassuming bureaucratic Washington insider, who quietly wielded immense power as Vice President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that are still felt today.

Based on a true story, ‘Vice’ is a film that will definitely appeal more to an American audience. I’m not much into politics in my own country, so even less so with International politics.

‘Vice’ is the story of Vice President Dick Cheney (Christian Bale), who served under George W. Bush. As illustrated in the film, Cheney was probably one of the most ambitious Vice Presidents in American history, and an opportunist on all accounts.

As a young man he was a bit of a troublemaker. He dropped out of Yale University because of his drinking and constant fighting. When his wife finally had enough of his reckless behaviour, she asked him to change, or she would leave him. And so he did change.

Cheney became a politician, working under Donald Rumsfield (Steve Carell). From there, he was able to climb the ranks until he became Vice President, where he would make important decisions without consulting the President first. The film also illustrates the tremendous power of men in suits sitting in offices.

Although this is not my kind of film, I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. This is mainly thanks to very good direction, a good script, and the fact the film is told in a humorist narration, despite it being a rather serious subject matter. George W. Bush is depicted as a real idiot (so what’s new?!). The editing was also very good.

Christian Bale’s makeup was incredible! So much so that I hardly recognized him. The film is being narrated by Kurt (Jesse Plemons) – a guy we’re not sure how he is connected to Cheney until the surprise finale. I thought that was really well done, and again, I enjoyed the lighthearted storytelling. In general, this was actually rather enjoyable.

At the box office, ‘Vice’ only earned $76 million on a $60 million budget. It received 174 award nominations, winning 35 including the Oscar for Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling (off course!). It also received Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Leading Actor, Best Film, Best Directing, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing.

Would I watch it again? Even though I enjoyed it, I somehow don’t think so.