Vice

Name: Vice
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, Comedy
Released: December 25, 2018
Duration: 132 min
Rating: 61
Cast: Alison Pill, Amy Adams, Bill Camp, Christian Bale, Eddie Marsan

2018

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 54 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 301 Ratings

See All

6.6

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6.6	Your Score
6.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 301 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Vice: Adam McKay On Christian Bale's Transformation Into 'Dick Cheney'

Now Playing: Vice: Adam McKay On Christian Bale's Transformation Into 'Dick Cheney'

Movie Details & Credits

Annapurna Pictures | Release Date: December 25, 2018 | R

Starring: Alison Pill, Amy Adams, Bill Camp, Christian Bale, Eddie Marsan, Jesse Plemons, Justin Kirk, Lily Rabe, LisaGay Hamilton, Sam Rockwell, Shea Whigham, Steve Carell, Tiffany Smith, Tyler Perry, Vanessa Cloke

Movie Facts:

Nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture. Nominated for 6 Golden Globes to lead all 2018 films. See additional awards and nominations.

Summary: Vice explores the epic story about how a bureaucratic Washington insider quietly became the most powerful man in the world as Vice-President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that we still feel today.

Director: Adam McKay

Genre(s): Biography, Drama, History, Comedy

Rating: R

Runtime: 132 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Stream On

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

100

Kim Hughes

Dec 23, 2018

Dazzling. Read full review

Leah Greenblatt

Dec 17, 2018

The shrewd, relentless winkiness of McKay’s filmmaking style may have worked better, though, for breaking down subprime mortgages in The Big Short than it does chronicling a deadly misbegotten war. What remains then is the cipher at the center of Vice: the Man Who Wasn’t There, and probably never will be. Read full review

Peter Travers

Dec 18, 2018

In Vice, the writer-director is tossing grenades every which way — it’s a movie that’s ferociously funny one minute, bleakly sorrowful the next. Read full review

James Berardinelli

Dec 20, 2018

Vice feels like a documentary-wannabe that never achieves whatever it’s trying to do. It rehashes events and information that have long been part of the public record and, despite the abundance of acting talent at director Adam McKay’s disposal, none of the characters achieve escape velocity. Read full review

Peter Rainer

Jan 10, 2019

When, at the end, we hear Cheney intone “I was the bad guy so you didn’t have to be,” the self-serving gravity of that pronouncement rings hollow because the movie is hollow, too. Read full review

Dana Stevens

Dec 17, 2018

I spent much of Vice trying to work out why the same narrative strategies that worked so well in the raucously entertaining "The Big Short" suddenly felt smug and even propagandistic. Read full review

Candice Frederick

Dec 17, 2018

Where is the joke here, aside from Bale acting as though he’s in a serious, dramatic movie in which he goes Method by adding on pounds and grunting his way through a half-baked performance? This is neither funny nor insightful. Read full review

SEE ALL 54 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

nagavedula

Dec 26, 2018

It is very easy to make a movie about dick cheney where you treat it as a rags to riches success story and end it with "too much power corrupts absolutely" type cautionary message. But Adam McKay takes a very nuanced and talented approach to this story and makes the movie awesome.

OscarsIt is very easy to make a movie about dick cheney where you treat it as a rags to riches success story and end it with "too much power corrupts absolutely" type cautionary message. But Adam McKay takes a very nuanced and talented approach to this story and makes the movie awesome.

Oscars for ACTOR, supporting actress, EDITING, screenplay, MAKE UP and picture. A masterpiece in storytelling.… Expand

9 of 17 users found this helpful98

Nostalgic

Jul 15, 2019

One of the most important films of modern times. Want to see how our institutions and constitution started eroding ? Look no further. Christian Bale once again is astounding in his role, proving his versatility once more. Entertainingly disturbing and a must watch for anyone with an IQ over 80!!

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

Grachechkovski

Apr 30, 2019

If you want to know how politics work - let watch this film. If you want to know what is the absolute power - let watch this film.
This is really scare movie, because a democratical model in big nation has strong system, where you haven't a voice to solve anything. System works perfectly,If you want to know how politics work - let watch this film. If you want to know what is the absolute power - let watch this film.
This is really scare movie, because a democratical model in big nation has strong system, where you haven't a voice to solve anything. System works perfectly, because you haven't power and wouldn't have it never… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

ahmedaiman1999

Feb 3, 2019

Vice is an ostentatious, smug, heavy-handed and oversimplified intentional mess that's, nonetheless, highly entertaining, if not constantly engaging, movie littered with terrific performances from its star-studded cast.

(6.5/10)

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

moviemitch96

Jan 3, 2019

Adam McKay (Anchorman, The Big Short) writes and directs, and Christian Bale completely transforms himself in order to portray Vice President Dick Cheney, shaving his hair and gaining over 40 lbs. for the role. He's practically unrecognizable, and his performance is easily the film's biggestAdam McKay (Anchorman, The Big Short) writes and directs, and Christian Bale completely transforms himself in order to portray Vice President Dick Cheney, shaving his hair and gaining over 40 lbs. for the role. He's practically unrecognizable, and his performance is easily the film's biggest highlight, with some strong supporting turns from Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney, Steve Carell as Don Rumsfeld, and Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush. The rest of the film, however, is a little all over the place, both in terms of story and politics. While there are some genuinely funny moments to be found in the film, the rest consists of plenty of left-wing and liberal biases (a scene at the end of the film even pokes fun at this) and really only focuses strictly on that point of view, which I guess should've been expected, considering it is a film told from Cheney's point of view. The film's story also jumps around quite a bit from year to year, making the flow of the film feel not very fluid. Overall, it's the performances that really make the film, and there are a handful of clever and funny moments, but the film's editing, inconsistent narrative structure, and left-wing and liberal biases that really only offer one side/point of view limited the film's impact for me, which like I said, is understandable since it's a film about Cheney, but I still hoped for slightly more and was slightly let down in the process.… Expand

4 of 5 users found this helpful41

Bbpfankuch

Dec 26, 2018

Took my family of five and we all felt it fell short as a comedy. The acting was amazing. I’ll give you that. The contents made me feel uncomfortable with how liberally slanted it was, and I’m a liberal.

6 of 9 users found this helpful63

Broyax

Dec 27, 2020

« Vice » pour un vicieux salopard magouilleur (c’est-à-dire un excellent politicien) et « Vice » pour le Vice-Président du crétin élu W. Bush bien entendu, à savoir les deux imbéciles (entre autres) qui ont décidé l’invasion de l’Irak et inventé les armes de destruction fictives, déstabilisé« Vice » pour un vicieux salopard magouilleur (c’est-à-dire un excellent politicien) et « Vice » pour le Vice-Président du crétin élu W. Bush bien entendu, à savoir les deux imbéciles (entre autres) qui ont décidé l’invasion de l’Irak et inventé les armes de destruction fictives, déstabilisé la région entière et contribué à la création de l’Etat Islamique, cette bande de dégénérés islamo-fascistes… mais à dire vrai, le film n’insiste pas du tout là-dessus, hélas.

Le film se borne à nous raconter de manière à la fois confuse et ennuyeuse ce qu’on sait tous déjà, à moins de vivre sous un rocher… on sent nettement qu’il est très à gauche, très poussif dans sa démonstration et désespérément binaire dans son raisonnement de gauchistes bisounours (Guantanamo ? et alors ? c’est bien la meilleure idée qu’ont jamais eue ces magouillards vicelards de Républicains !).

De toute façon, c’est très mal joué et surtout surjoué par l’ensemble de la distribution qui se croient très malins… sauf évidemment Sam Rockwell qui sait donner une subtile ironie (et caricature) à son personnage, mais ça, c’est Sam Rockwell !

On s’emmerde donc énormément dans ce film à charge qui en rajoute sans cesse, ce qui nuit à l’intention louable initiale de dénoncer ces escrocs (c’est-à-dire le boulot d’excellents politiciens). De fait, ça tourne vite court, en plus de tourner à vide ! Bref, on s’en bat les burnes en force de tout ça et surtout de ce film-là.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

SEE ALL 94 REVIEWS