"Vice" (2018)

The opening titles tell you how very little they know about Dick Cheney. And then proceed to make shit up about Dick Cheney. I think. I'm really not sure.
The problem with director Adam McKay's follow up to the brilliant "The Big Short" is that he doesn't have any clue what this film is. Nor does he seem to have a filter to how much of a whining liberal he is. Go to his Twitter page and he makes no effort to conceal it.
That said, this is laughably a few steps below a Michael Moore mockumentary. In fact, I'd argue, Moore at least knows the value of irony.
The glaring issue of this film is...we have somewhat of an understanding that the man is...creepy. Like Karl Rove and everyone else McKay chooses to include in the deck of freak show cards. They're White pigs who don't know when to say when at the trough. What he chooses to excise is the Clintons, who fed from the same place. They're rich and creepy as well. I suspect Hollywood would never give any money to someone to make that movie. That person would most likely be dead. In this case, the script is more of a dummy svengali of Bush Jr. (Sam Rockwell) who seemed a tad bit out of his league. No one is safe in McKay's venom. Lynne Cheney (Amy Adams) is painted as an ambitious...housewife. Growing up with an abusive household, this wasn't used to show her own drive for something better in life with Dick but rather to draw a ton of shade, practically victim shaming her portrayal as a harpie who has more to lose in terms of stature. While this may be the impression, it certainly wasn't in fact (remember the opening statements, folks).

Though Christian Bale does an amazing caricature of Cheney, this is a pretty disgusting fat pig image that could've been...Bill Clinton. But McKay decides this is a more interesting topic. He's not. It's driven by agenda to portray the Right as crafty from a long time ago. You give them too much credit to call them stupid, McKay.

What's left is a slimy feel. The issue is that you can portray slimy without making the viewer feel slimy. Unfortunately, McKay adds other characters that seem to be to blame as well. Donald Rumsfeld is ridiculously played by Steve Carell, who the Lefty Hollywood will most likely reward with a nomination. As with the rest of the cast. Seem attacking Right is the new Holocaust film.

In the end, it's all pretty boring anyway. Cheney wasn't an interesting person. He IS a boring person surrounded by interesting things. He may have been a snake, but it's not enough to just pile on bad after bad despite the Jesse Plemmons narration of a character that will make more sense later in the film. That was the coolest thing about this flick. The untrustworthy narrator isn't who you think it is. By then...who cares?