Vice

First Hit: I liked this oddly created film about a powerful yet enigmatic man who really ran our country for a period of time.

Dick Cheney (Christian Bale) powerfully found his way into and as a guiding influence in our government especially during the President George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell) years.

The scene that points out his guile was when during the transition from Clinton to Bush, when he, not only had is standard office in the Senate (as a tie-breaker vote), but also had his team find an office in the House side of Congress (that’s where the money bills are created), in the Defense Department, and other places in the seat of our government. He moved in and out of these offices to wield the influence of the Executive branch where ever he could.A

He believed in the Unitary executive theory whereas the President possesses the power to control the entire executive branch of government. Sort of like Nixon’s belief when interviewed by David Frost; “If the President does it, it isn’t against the law.” Cheney believed he, as the lever puller for George Bush, he could do no wrong and nothing he did was illegal. A couple of his feats include; torture of captured combatants, invading Iraq when there was no proof that the country had anything to do with September 11 attack on world trade towers.

It was a focus group that indicated that the American public wanted a country as an enemy and not a concept (Al-Qaeda), so we invaded Iraq, because both Bush, H. W. Bush, and Cheney had wanted to this for a long time. This is just a smattering of the bold divisive actions Cheney took as VP.

We see his earlier years as a college drunken mess. His stint as a lineman in Wyoming. Drinking and fighting in bars after work. His comeuppance by his wife Lynne (Amy Adams), who said after one drunken bout, you either shape up or ship out.

He does shape up and becomes an intern in Congress working for Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carell) – (the truth is that he worked for Congressman William A. Steiger), then into the White House, eventually rising to Chief of Staff for Gerald Ford (Bill Camp). Then he was elected to Wyoming’s only Congressional seat. This was followed by becoming Secretary of Defense for George H. W. Bush and oversaw Desert Storm, which he believed didn’t go far enough.

The film shows many of these events with sincerity while mixing in scenes with a level of irreverence, and also scenes of Cheney fly fishing in Wyoming. But watching Dick and George’s mistake in both leaving Iraq while pumping up a radical person, resulted in ISIS (Desh). These mistakes are Bush’s and Cheney’s legacy.

Like with the Big Short, director Adam McKay mixes his film’s stories up in ways that various impacts on people. For me this approach was effective, but it was Bale’s Cheney that was amazing.

Bale was Cheney. I believed I was seeing the real guy on the screen. Nothing he did seemed out of character with whom the public knew something about but not how the man thought. And even with this film, most of Cheney’s screen time is watching him think. He wasn’t an impulsive man, that’s clear. Adams was fantastic as Lynne Cheney. Her drive and power over Dick were clear and direct. Carell as Rumsfeld was strong. I never got much of an impression from the real Rumsfeld through his brief public appearances so I’ve nothing to compare this performance to. Rockwell was wonderfully cast as George W. Bush. His breezy, thoughtless manner comes through just as one saw the real Bush in public. Justin Kirk as Scooter Libby was good. LisaGay Hamilton played Condoleezza Rice one of the people Cheney didn’t see eye to eye with. Tyler Perry played Colin Powell who reluctantly spoke at the UN for the bombing of Iraq, although he never believed it was the right thing to do. Alison Pill played Cheney’s older gay daughter Mary whom is stood behind by her family early on in the film and then when the younger daughter Liz (Lily Rabe) runs for office, Dick turns against Mary’s lesbian ways so that Liz can get elected as the Representative of Wyoming. Power was what drove Dick in life and not even family got in the way. Adam McKay wrote an interesting script that reflects the way he likes to create a movie. Dancing across the information while willing to mix it up in ways that are different. I happen to like it.

Overall: The acting is superb and the way this story is told is probably not everyone’s cup of tea.

Nobody's Fool

First Hit: Although a few funny bits, it was overdone, too long, and way too predictable.

You’d think with a good cast including Tika Sumpter (as Danica), Tiffany Haddish (as Tanya), and Whoopi Goldberg (as Lola) there would be a funny redeeming story with meaningful exchanges but this fails at both ends.

Here Danica is a advertising executive trying to get promoted. One of her team members Kalli (Amber Riley) is appropriately loyal, however her boss Lauren Meadows (Missi Pyle) is so far-fetched it makes the agency they work for seem fake and foolish. It was either a huge mistake to cast Pyle in this role or to make this role look foolish. The meetings with Meadows teams vying for the opportunity to create the ad program for a new fragrance were stupid.

Danica is a very controlled person who has done everything she can to put her life together, work hard, and create a nice life for herself. Tanya is her sister, who spends a fair amount of her time in jail for drugs or prostitution. As the film begins Danica gets a call from their mom, Lola, telling her that Tanya is getting out of jail and that Danica has to pick her sister up and also provide a home for her. Reason is that the last time Tanya stated with her mom, she ripped out all the copper wire and plumbing to sell for dollars. It cost Lola $35,000 to fix the home.

Danica was also dumped by her fiancé one week before their wedding and for the last year has been emailing, texting and having phone calls with Charlie (Mehcad Brooks) who is an engineer on an oil derrick. She’s never met him, seen him, skyped him (he says bad Wi-Fi connections), but is in love with him. She claims that he’s the perfect man, meets everything on her list and cannot wait to meet him.

Adding to this story Danica is being actively pursued by the owner of a local coffee store. The owner Frank (Omari Hardwick) gives Danica her daily coffee for free and it always comes with a single red rose. But despite his pursuit Danica doesn’t pay him any mind because he doesn’t meet the items on her list.

The hilarity sections ensue when Danica picks up Tanya from prison and takes her back to her apartment. Tanya is so overboard you cannot help but laugh at some of the dialogue. Because Tanya needs a job and needs to attend AA meetings, Danica escorts her to her office to help her get started. On the way they stop by the coffee store and Frank offers Tanya a job because she fixed and served coffee at the prison. Then Tanya and Danica discover that Frank hosts AA meetings in the store after hours because he also has a prison record and wants to make his life right.

Tanya also believes that her sister Danica is being “Catfished” by this unknown entity named “Charlie.” This is because there’s never been any real face to face contact between him and Danica.

With these setups there is bound to be some hilarity and funny scenes, and there are. But the ending is obvious, it takes too long to get there, and the office scenes are unfathomable.

Sumpter is OK as Danica. Her character is too smart to fall in love with a phone voice and the story's handling of the office she worked in was poorly done. Sumpter had to walk a fine line in this film to make it work, and unfortunately, she didn’t get much help from the script or director. Haddish’s role is over the top and for the most part doesn’t work. There are a few hilarious scenes but they rely on a gross pushiness of her character. Goldberg’s role as their mom was minor and mostly useless. She had a few good lines but overall, I’m not clear why the role was needed. Hardwick was excellent and the best part of this film. His consistently honest character, a person working to make his life right, was wonderfully portrayed. Pyle’s role was horrible. I do not believe that anyone acting like this would actually be in a position of leadership in any advertising agency. This was an issue with Pyle, the script, the director or all three. Brooks was OK. I thought his caricature of a suave man on the internet and when he first meets Danica, then turning into an obnoxious self-focused jerk at dinner was to far a stretch of the character. Riley as Danica’s team member was OK. She seemed to be acting the role versus being the role, and that’s not a good thing. Tyler Perry wrote and directed this mess. It is unfortunate he overdid all his characters and made this film seem cartoonish. The film ended up not being un-funny and not dramatic.

Overall: Unclear idea and overdone execution made me wonder how this film got made.

Gone Girl

First Hit:  This was like watching two different films – the first section, a long ~2 hour segment was fascinating, the last part was a very different film and not as interesting although more pointed.

I’m really not sure why this story was created this way.

In the first two hours the audience watches Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) squirm to try to prove his innocence of killing his missing wife. Affleck is perfect at giving the sense that he’s innocent as well as guilty all at the same time. His enigmatic personality is well used in this role because as soon as you believe he’s innocent then he does something that makes you wonder.

When the film moves to show Amy Dunne’s (Rosamund Pike) story it adds to the film greatly. However, as this section moves forward, there is a point about 2 hours into the film where I think it takes a turn too far to the left. As we watch Amy’s escape plan fail, it gets to the point where her sickness is pushed more into physicality of action.

It is at this point that her actions with Desi Collings (Neil Patrick Harris) where the second film begins. From here I was reeling from the change of view and pace of the film. And although I found the new story interesting, it was so much more upfront and in your face than the previous two hours.

Affleck is absolutely amazing as his ability to be enigmatic and be two sides of the story as required by the character. He was perfect for this part. Pike was absolutely beyond amazing. She was sublime in her ability to pull off the character she was supposed to be. She was amazingly calculated, vulnerable, steal skinned, and intellectually manipulative. Tyler Perry as lawyer Tanner Bolt was really a fun and good part of the film. Carrie Coon as Margo Dunne (Nick’s twin sister) was very good. Harris was also strong in his role. Kim Dickens and the lead detective was also very good. Gillian Flynn wrote an interesting screenplay from her own novel, however the story at the end was either too jolting or miss-directed. David Fincher directed this film and as separate parts these films were well directed, but as a single film, it was more difficult to watch the two pieces made into one film.

Overall:  For the most part this film was very good but be jarred as I was, I think the transition could have been better.