MovieChat Forums > Vice (2018) Discussion > Mostly a misfire

Mostly a misfire

posted 5 years ago by lolkatz (475)
4 replies | jump to latest

This film had it's interesting moments, and plenty of potential, but I think it failed in the most important thing: it failed to explain the main protagonist's motives. What do we know about Cheney after having seen it? That he was a careerist, unscrupulous businessman? A pragmatic schemer, or someone who at least in some instances acted on his convictions, and if so, what those convictions were? A loving father, lifelong lackey to his intensely ambitious wife, a patriot, closeted autocrat? It's as confusing as neoconservativism itself, but this film doesn't do a good job in tackling this enigma. Instead it throws in a docudrama-level cacophony of narrations, and voice-overs, and info-graphics, whereas it only needed to get inside this character and tell his story.

[–] Xcalat3 (3701) 5 years ago

Exactly it tells us nothing about him, we don't know why he is what he is.

[–] lolkatz (475) 5 years ago

In one interview Christian Bale even goes on to say that the invasion of Iraq was something Cheney believed to have been the right thing to do based on his convictions. However, I personally thought the movie didn't do much in the way of clarifying that.

[–] ProFromDover (272) 5 years ago

It absolutely *did explain his motives*. I could give them but that would be pointless wouldn't it?
I read the book --yes there is one-- years ago. The film though hardly perfect does a nice job but it doesn't spell things out, viewers are going to have to get it on their own.

The Bush administration was an abomination. Nothing will even remotely compare to it including Trump (he's only going to get 1 term Bush had two).

[–] Druff (1447) 5 years ago

Unless Cheney himself undergoes deep psycho analysis and the findings are reported, we can never know what he is in his core. All we can know is what he did and when he did it.

The movies spelled it out enough for me. He would have been a mediocre nobody, if not for the tough love of his wife. His quest to live up to her expectations lead him down a path that showed him power and gave him access to it, and he grabbed it and decided to use it for his own benefit rather than the benefit of his country.

It wasn't hard to suss out. And you basically laid out the answers to your own questions, so I actually don't know what the fuck you're talking about to begin with.