Review of Vice (2018) by Matt D — 30 Dec 2018

I always struggle with biopics that attempt to cover the full breadth of someone's life. They tend to feel more like a collection of scenes showcasing the "greatest hits" of a person's life rather than telling a cogent story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. And this is something that 'Vice' suffers from greatly. Sure, there is a strong thesis to this film that somewhat holds it all together but the individual segments often feel way too brief and unexplored to fully express the drama.

All of this being said, if I have to watch a movie that suffers from my usual biopic issues I want it to be a movie directed with Adam McKay's creative flair and a cast as good as the one assembled here. The combination of these two elements help 'Vice' overcome the biopic shortcomings and into something that I genuinely really enjoyed watching. Bale is just insanely uncanny and brilliant as Cheney and has some stunning support with Adams, Carrell, and a truly excellent Sam Rockwell next to him.

In a perfect world this cast would have been utilized for a TV series exploring Cheney's life in more detail but instead this is a highly entertaining CliffsNotes version of modern American history.