Movie Reviews #68…
Vice. Adam McKay, director. The title of this movie is a play on words and it hints that it can be considered a commentary about the evil incompetence in the halls so power that adversely affect the lives of millions. On a more personal level, the movie is a dark, satirical masterpiece about the Machiavelli-like U.S. Vice-President who engineered the murder of thousands, Dick Cheney (played ably by Christian Bale). His wife Lynne (played by Amy Adams) doesn’t come off well either—behind ever evil man is an evil woman? But Steve Carell steals the show for me in his role as Donald Rumsfeld, although his neo-con peccadillos are swept under the rug.
I’m the first to admit that this is a zany biopic with many liberal Hollywood stars’ participation, but I saw nothing that was blatantly incorrect. Yes, Hillary’s support of the Iraq War was also included, as was Powell’s justified reluctance for going to the U.N. to denounce Saddam’s non-existent WMDs.
There’s a lot of dark humor. It would have been too painful to play it straight. And, even in a little more than two hours, you can see the historical background leads to our current situation, including Nixon’s downfall and how Reagan’s “Make America Great Again” became perverted. Except for the veterans who were maimed and killed as a result of this myopic malfeasance, no greatness is portrayed here, only a charade performed by politicos who played with people’s lives in their abuse of power.
While the history leading to our present circumstances is made clear, the movie leaves out some important things. The part that Saddam’s oil played is barely mentioned via a map showing how petroleum companies like Halliburton would carve up Iraq; the role that Bush’s desire for revenge for the attack on his father isn’t mentioned at all; and the neo-cons and their view of the world had to be ferreted out from the focus on evil personalities. President Bush’s deer-in-the-headlights look at that primary school would have also been a nice addition to the black humor too. Maybe the screenwriters, producers (including Brad Pitt and Will Farrell), and director didn’t think it was possible to satirize all that evil.
Reviews are mixed for this movie, so I’ll offer my summary: it’s the best movie I’ve seen all year! It’s a clever, pithy, commentary on how things can go terribly wrong in Washington when powerful but incompetent people are in charge…as if we needed a reminder about that.
***
Comments are always welcome!
The Last Humans. A dysfunctional Washington DC could cause man-made disasters of many sorts. In this post-apocalyptic thriller, ex-USN and LA Sheriff’s diver Penny Castro surfaces from a dive to find the apocalypse. Few survive the airborne plague. Her subsequent adventures put her in some hopeless situations as she struggles to protect her adopted family. The reader will be biting his nails all the way through. Coming from Black Opal Press this year. Look for it.
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
