Vice, written and directed by Adam McKay - 10 out of 10

Vice, written and directed by Adam McKay

10 out of 10

The perspective one will have on this motion picture would be influenced by the politics, the side of the divide one sits on, especially in America – in other parts of the world, given the unpopularity of the antihero of the feature, most viewers would probably say they share the view of the filmmakers.

For this cinephile, to note on this film presents a challenge, for although it is clearly a masterpiece, better than the much lighter Bohemian Rhapsody – and Christian Bale is a few levels above the excellent, but not grandiose, royal Rami Malek and hence my favorite to win the Oscar –I do not necessarily accept everything presented in the fictional story as truthful.

As a victim of communism – all those who had lived in that system are handicapped, with the exception of the “more equal animals at the Animal Farm, the nomenclature – I prefer the right, which normally would be the republicans, albeit these have become so crazy as to vote for Donald Duck.

There is also the feeling, when looking at the ludicrous buffoon sitting and watching television for what seems to be most of the day, in the White House, that Bush – “The Kid” as Rumsfeld and others refer to him – was Einstein when compared with a clown that is obsessed with a Wall that Mexico was supposed to pay for – he is on record promising that….Two hundred Times!

The film is exceptional, even when one disagrees with some, perhaps most of the premises of the story – the major one being that Vice was actually the President, if not for all intents and purposes and not on all issues, at least in certain situations and in the mind of Cheney anyway.

I do not buy that.

Nevertheless, seeing as this is a comedy – drama, and hence we do not have to take all we see too seriously, we can look at this and laugh, perhaps thinking that this was the premise, the conditions to launch Trump and Fox News were created then and there and Vice and his cronies were responsible.

Maybe even to a great extent for what is happening now, apart from the failed mission in Iraq – albeit having lived under a dictator, I see the idea of overthrowing Ceausescu, Saddam as a great one, WMD or no mass destruction weapons – the rise of a network that worships trump ( why use the capital letter for such a figure) and ultimately, a leader that seems ridiculous and fit for Zimbabwe, only as a replacement for Mugabe, now gone and the “Crocodile” who led the secret police and now that wretched country.

The vision offered by Vice is one where Dick Cheney has initially refused George W. Bush, when offered the position of running mate, after occupying all manner of positions, Chief of Staff and becoming a Washington insider.

His wife, Lynne Cheney aka the astonishing Amy Adams, probably the next Meryl Streep, is opposed to the idea of her husband running along the younger Bush – a man they had long before seen drunk, at a festivity, when his father was Vice President – and states the obvious:

This is a job where you do nothing…just wait for something to happen

The cunning Dick Cheney has another plan though; he would first offer to help the winner of the primaries to find the best running mate and then, when W insists – according to the version suggested by the excellent Adam McKay – modern day Machiavelli makes his move

If you agree, I would have responsibility in some areas…energy, foreign policy…did he also say armed forces…

At the end of the motion picture, we see many items connected with fishing, various baits, suggesting, or plainly explaining that a much smarter operator hooked Bush Jr.

Moreover, maybe those who voted for the ticket had been duped as well…

Steve Carell is wondrous as Donald Rumsfeld – loathed by almost everyone and thus I must be crazy or stupid, but there it is – I liked the man – the one who took Cheney under his wind, only to be pushed aside by Vice later.

Sam Rockwell is fantastic as George W. Bush, albeit the reservations have been stated and he was not such a monster for the under signed.

Evidently, if the suppositions made in the film prove to be accurate, then Cheney and others would be guilty of so many things that the favorable opinion of a man of the right would have to change.

Still, look at what Trump has been doing over the past couple of years and I insist that W. Bush is a luminary and closer to Mahatma Gandhi than this Orange sphincter, as Bill Maher has masterly named him.

Vice is a wonderful film, perhaps the best of the year, with Green Book, far ahead of the Rhapsody, The Favorite…as for A Star is Born, Black Panther, Crazy Rich Asians…why did they even consider these movies…