FYI - all of my reviews are done while watching the movie........sort of a play by play. I think my reviews are more about the story and less about the movie. I'll try to keep that in mind going forward.
Vice (2018) stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Tyler Perry, Alison Pill and Jesse Plemons. Bale plays the main character, former Vice President and all around asshole who shoots his friends, Dick Cheney.
Gotta love a movie that starts off with this as the first thing you read: The following is a true story. Or as true as it can be given that Dick Cheney is known as one of the most secretive leaders in history. But we did our fucking best.
The movie kicks off going from a drunk Dick being pulled over by a cop early in his life to the day 9/11 happened.
10:00 into the movie - From this viewpoint, I can now blame Lynne Cheney for everything that happens. Or so it seems. I love a stand-up, take charge woman who isn't afraid of anything more than living the shitty life she's already living enough to stand her ground and kick the ass of those not living up to their own potential. And she's well aware of the status of the world on why she's unable to achieve her goals herself as a woman..........so she'll build on this man she has.
Oohhh, another screen quote: Beware the quiet man. For while others speak, he watches. And while others act, he plans. And when they finally rest...he strikes. - Anonymous
20:00 into the movie - No windows but he has an office after working with Rumsfeld for a bit. Steve Carell playing Donald Rumsfeld gives Rumsfeld more personality that I gave him credit for.
OMG I didn't know that Lynne's mom was murdered! Wow! To witness all of that as a child, then deal with no justice for her mom as an adult.....that's a lot. It really really explains so much about who she became.
I should be writing the review but this trip through history is interesting. I'm also losing interest in the very boring personality belongs to Dick.
Paused the movie to use the bathroom and had these two thoughts. #1 - Pausing a story on Dick Cheney to shit seems very appropriate. #2 - we're at a scene where he's just had a heart attack. As someone who doesn't necessarily believe in a god, maybe that's his god trying to tell him to use that heart of his for more than just beating.
At no point in this movie (mind you, I don't know how accurate it is) do I feel like he loves this country. He and Lynne obviously love each other but it feels more to be the passion to be in charge of the place they happened to live.
Oh wow, big turn just now in seeing how he feels about his daughter when she comes out of the closet. He chose his daughter. That's a good dad moment!
Wait? We're 49 minutes in and the information on the screen is saying that they gave up politics for the sake of their daughter, raised golden retrievers and lived happily ever after......followed by the credits for the movie? There's still an hour to go.
I'm guessing that ^^^ would have been the decent, human with more than a beating heart would do.
It's very weird that I always had this view of George W Bush of a silly, normal everyday guy with a well-connected family pushing him to be more than he actually wanted to be.
This feels more like a documentary than a movie. The acting thus far is only so-so. The movie seems boring but then it might just be the subject is boring and not the fault of the movie.
There's a narrator throughout the movie.......at this point, curiosity got the better of me and I Googled it to avoid the moment of Lynn and Dick kissing in bed. My heart was filled with fear, I didn't want to see this at all. Mercifully, it was exceedingly brief. The reveal of who the narrator is will probably go down as my favorite piece of this movie. Genius. Pure genius. I will NOT reveal it in this review. Gotta keep something in the movie for you to be surprised by. However, I did add it as a link out......click where it says narrator and it'll link out to reveal that information.
Ok, back to his daughter, Mary. He really does love his daughter. It's obvious he supports her.
While I am finding the movie boring, I love information. Any information. So this information and the details of things I thought I knew (but didn't really) about that time in our history has been very eye-opening.
This old Dick was likely put ahead of thousands of others who were younger, healthier and MORE deserving of a heart transplant than this man on a purely physical/health level.
1:59:03 into the movie - another bit of information to read on screen - Lynne and Dick split time between their homes in Wyoming and Virginia. In 2016, Liz was elected as Wyoming's sole delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. Mary Cheney was asked in 2015 whether she and Liz had mended their relationship. She replied, " I don't have to answer that". So it's apparent that in this family, personal careers come before family. What a sad fucking existence. thank goodness there's only 12 minutes left.
1:59:32 into the movie - shocker - more info to read on screen - 4,550 US soldiers were killed in the Iraq War with over 32,325 casualties. Suicide among American service members has increased by 31% since 2001. More than 600,000 Iraqi civilians died as a result of the war. ISIS is responsible for an estimated 150,000 civilians in Syria and Iraq with more than 2,000 murdered in international terror attacks. Who is responsible for these numbers. Cheney by his manipulation and Bush by his head in the sand during?
2:02:00 into the movie - I'll just let you read it yourself when it comes on the screen but just note there's another information bit. Let's just say any republican pissed off about HC's emails should study this screen for one hour and then give a reason as to why this is ok.
My take away from this movie - fear anyone that wants to be president and all the people around them. It's been hard to write a review for this and keep my personal opinions out of it. I apologize for any offensiveness (kind of) if you only wanted a review of the movie. The movie itself is interesting, enlightening and depressing. I think that's what they wanted it to be so job well done. The acting was ok, but all the attention Christian Bale has received is well earned.
3 shots out of 5. Although this movie did make me wish I had a lot of more liquor.
