Vice

“What do we believe in?”

Aught-era movie The Big Short, directed by Adam McKay and starring Christian Bale and Steve Carell, was my favorite movie of 2015. Vice, directed by Adam McKay and starring Christian Bale and Steve Carrell, is not my favorite film of 2018 — but it is a lot of fun.

McKay's talent for simplifying complex subjects and presenting them in an entertaining way works here for most of the film. The full life story of Dick Cheney (Bale) is told with the use of graphics, news clips and fourth wall conversations. I leaned in for most, but unlike The Big Short (with more likeable characters), two hours with Cheney becomes exhausting. 

You'll know the American history milestones presented here, but how much of it you connect to Cheney depends on how much you were paying attention and how far you now believe his unchecked power went. Vice certainly presents an opinion.

Vice also presents a strong solid cast playing Lynne Cheney (Amy Adams), Donald Rumsfeld (Carell), George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell) and Colin Powell (Tyler Perry). Rockwell, who disappears into his character, steals every scene and ups the entertainment value of this film, but Perry's star appearance is disruptive and distracting.

Cheney is probably the most influential American politician in modern history that we don't really know much about. You'll probably feel the same after seeing this film.

In a nutshell: A big, funny movie about Dick Cheney, ironically short of heart. McKay's humorous touch to serious history works well until the final arc, which is crueler and darker. 

Award potential: Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay are very likely. Expect acting nominations for Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Sam Rockwell who steals every scene. Bale and Adams are front runners but it's too soon to reward last year's winner Rockwell again. Although she's consistently one of the best actresses of the decade, I'm not convinced that Amy Adams will finally win an Oscar (or Globe or SAG) for a wife-of-the-subject role. She just doesn't have that big moment that Oscar voters like to reward. I wish that she's rewarded for something stronger and in the Best Actress category. The film should do well in the Golden Globes Comedy/Musical category and at the SAG actor and ensemble awards.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.