VICE (2018)

1/1/19 - Vice (2018) - 5/10

No. Not really. I just really wasn’t into it. I didn’t find the humor in its jabs, the joy in the idiosyncrasies, or the real ability to root around in the other unpleasantness on display. Maybe I am too close to the situation, in the time I grew up and became politically active, but it wasn’t fun or funny. I grimaced and derived none of the pleasure that was intended, dramatically or drolly.

The acting did work. Bale was pretty damn strong, melting into the well-known enigma of Cheney. With his mannerisms, way of speaking, and his general look, he brought this figure of revile and respect to an unsettling reality. Amy Adams, though I don’t know the real-life Lynne Cheney, seemed to do quite well with what she was given. She was lovely and lived in. I also thought Sam Rockwell’s. “Bush’s son” was quite good, always stealing the show when he was in frame.

Vice had trouble finding the humor in the horror. It also had a difficulty being special. Where The Big Short was inventive and exciting, this was tired and ineffective on the whole. So much of it was repetitive, like the visual metaphors and shooting techniques. Mckay has a style that can blend the informative with the funny, making these difficulties palatable, but rarely did it pop in this film. Wink at the camera, utilize the bizarre framing devices, and douse the characters in insinuating silliness; none of it achieved its desired and necessary result.

I did not despise the film as much as my politics might have leaned me to. It has wit and is certainly trying with a skill that is admirable, but I did not identify with it or get on board with the bizarre blend of comedy and unseemly horrific drama that it slathered the screen with. The acting is there, but I truly didn’t appreciate much more.