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 Vice (2018) 

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A 22%  22%  [ 2 ]
B 44%  44%  [ 4 ]
C 33%  33%  [ 3 ]
D 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
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Total votes : 9

 Vice (2018) 
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Keeping it Light
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Post Vice (2018)
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Vice is a 2018 American biographical comedy-drama film written and directed by Adam McKay. The film stars Christian Bale as Dick Cheney, with Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Alison Pill, and Tyler Perry in supporting roles. The plot follows Cheney in his desire to become the most powerful Vice President in America's history. It is the second theatrical film to depict the George W. Bush administration, following Oliver Stone's W., and the third collaboration between Bale and Adams, following The Fighter and American Hustle. The film was announced in November 2016, with McKay set to write and direct. Bale signed on to play Cheney in April 2017, and much of the cast joined throughout the rest of the year. Principal photography began in September 2017.


Tue Dec 25, 2018 1:14 pm
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Pure Phase
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Post Re: Vice (2018)
It is a decent film, but it falls short of its potential and, I admit, my own high expectations. The Big Short is my favorite picture of its year, and Adam McKay attempts to recreate its sensational humor, style, and tone here to diminished returns.

The prior film used an ensemble cast, fourth-wall-obliterating asides, and a just-right blend of wry absurdity and political rage to convey an important-but-hyper-arcane subject to a general audience, functioning in a singular and laudable way as educational entertainment. But Vice is first and foremost a biopic, one centered on a monumental physical transformation by Christian Bale as Vice President Dick Cheney.

McKay's frenzied approach becomes a type of fence between the audience and Bale's portrayal of this deeply flawed man and his Machiavellian methods. I found myself wanting the film to calm down: to stop crowding in as many whoa-I-remember-this incidents and Big Short-style flourishes (including a false ending and an exchange in Shakespearean verse) and instead let the characters and their milieu simply exist on the screen as a more traditional political drama.

The efforts by Amy Adams, as Lynne Cheney, and Sam Rockwell, as George W. Bush, are commendable, but they would both be served well by three or four extra scenes. Steve Carell, so terrific in The Big Short, is decidedly miscast as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, though. He simply never registers as even an approximation of Rumsfeld. Every other characterization is wafer-thin, though none are nearly as embarrassing and unconvincing as, say, Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice in Oliver Stone's W. In fact, a general comparison to W. is favorable for Vice.

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Tue Dec 25, 2018 8:30 pm
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The Kramer
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Post Re: Vice (2018)
Not sure what the point of the film was. Is it a George Bush apologist film? Is it a “Trump sucks but so did these guys” film? Christian Bale is giving his best “Gimme an oscar” performance, as does Adams, but everyone else seems to think this more in line with an informative episode of Family Guy. It takes all the annoying, pretetentious oh-so-cool elitist liberalism, things from The Big Short and octuples down on them. Some of the bits are legit funny, the false ending had rolling for a good minute (though the confusion of the audience was part of this), but the majority are just distracting and kill any dramatic momentum or tension Bale’s side of the movie had built up.

So yeah it may have two oscar worthy performances, but Adam McKay gets in his own way far too often for any of it to be very enjoyable.


Wed Dec 26, 2018 12:41 am
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Post Re: Vice (2018)
I believe McKay's intention was to illustrate the ways Dick Cheney consolidated power and reshaped key processes in his image. Consider how the final postscript involves powers presidents to this day can utilize if they so choose.

But at times he definitely gets lost in, "Remember this on the news, lol?" tangents and, "See what I can do!" stylistic flourishes. The film has a tendency to undermine itself. And though Bale's effort feels mighty, the film is frequently an ineffectual vehicle for him to sell Cheney as a Macbeth-type destructive-spiteful-tragic figure.

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1. The Lost City of Z - 2. A Cure for Wellness - 3. Phantom Thread - 4. T2 Trainspotting - 5. Detroit - 6. Good Time - 7. The Beguiled - 8. The Florida Project - 9. Logan and 10. Molly's Game


Wed Dec 26, 2018 12:00 pm
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Post Re: Vice (2018)
I walked out of the theater as soon as possible, but I guess there is a post credits scene? The angry focus group is back and arguing over Trump and Hilary, it comes to fisticuffs. Then some young girl in the back says “I can’t wait to see that new Fast & Furious movie”. Really? Fuck off Adam McKay. Did The Big Short give him such an inflated ego and knowledge of self importance that it actually ruined him as a good movie maker? Or is this just a small misstep?


Thu Dec 27, 2018 3:20 pm
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Post Re: Vice (2018)
I enjoyed it, but not as much as The Big Short which was a little disappointing. Bale is really good as Cheney, but I fail to see anything Oscar worthy about his performance, and honestly I thought both Rockwell and Carell out shined him in most of their scenes together. I also thought this movie worked really well as a dark comedy which shouldn't be a surprise since McKay handled that aspect so well in The Big Short, but I still didn't know if it would work here, but it did and that is where I got most of my enjoyment out of this movie from. That fakeout ending was fucking hilarious IMO.

B


Fri Jan 11, 2019 4:03 pm
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Post Re: Vice (2018)
Good film, though far not as impressive as The Big Short in every aspect. It's entertainingly made, though I'm not sure it was the right angle for it, but it's hard to fault it for anything as it keeps things interesting and tells us pretty much anything we'd like to know about Cheney and his time as VP. The cast certainly is pretty good, Bale is commanding as the lead, but he's been better before and his portrayal as Cheney and also Carell as Rumsfeld don't come off as that realistic, but Perry is very good as Powell. The film wins big mainly for its source of information. It's thorough and guides us to a nice psyche of American politics, and McKay keeps things easy digestible with plenty comedic interpretations. Addressing Cheney decision to run with Bush to come off a Shakespearean dialogue, and a consideration about unlawful war actions appearing as menu of the day, with a nice appearance from Alfred Molina in that later scene are pretty good. The editing could have been better, not sure I saw the point of the jumping back and forward in time as often as it did. But it's a cool film, always nice to see Bale at work. Also especially liked that mid-credits scene, which has a much impact as anything as a realization that things don't look to change for the better anytime soon.

B+


Sun Apr 14, 2019 2:12 am
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Post Re: Vice (2018)
Brilliant and stylish way to simply summarise an important period spanning 20 years and Cheney's rise to power. Bale did a splendid job as Cheney and Rockwell captured that deer-in-the-headlights look of Bush so incredibly well. It's also a very funny film, with Alfred Molina's menu monologue being the most laugh-out-loud thing in the film, followed closely by the mid-credits focus group. The film is left-leaning, but it's also as accurate as we know it is, and that's the most important thing.


Tue Apr 23, 2019 7:25 pm
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Post Re: Vice (2018)
I found this too much of style-over-substance and deeply lost in its own praise that forgets to tell a compelling human story. The highlight is easily the false ending but I didn't think this movie was Oscar nomination worthy. Bale, Adams, Rockwell, Carell have done much better work in the past and while they are good individually I just wasn't moved by any of their performances. The make-up was indeed very well here. McKay was his own enemy here, rather than trying to emulate the formula of The Big Short he should have trued to bring something new to the table.

C


Wed Nov 04, 2020 5:30 am
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