Taglines: The untold true story that çhanged the çourse of history.
After a quick shot of a very young Dick Cheney (Christian Bale) getting pulled over for driving drunk, we see the day of 9/11 – in an underground White House bunker, Cheney gives the authorization to shoot down any aircraft deemed a threat… on “presidential authority.” A narrator (voice of Jesse Plemons) explains that most people have no idea how one man came to so much power, changing history and affecting millions of lives.
The narrator takes us back decades in the 1970s, to young Dick and Lynne (Amy Adams) Cheney. Lynne was a top student, but Dick got kicked out of Yale after drinking too much. After bailing him out of jail, Lynne yells at him to get his life together. Lynne’s father was a drunk who abused her mother, and she refuses to sign up for the same life.
She wants him to be something. Dick becomes a congressional intern who starts working for the obnoxious Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carrell), an old-school boys club type. The two become very close until Rumsfeld is sent off as an ambassador because of his conflicts with the Nixon White House. Meanwhile, Lynne’s mother mysteriously drowns, and it seems like it may have been a domestic violence incident, though no charges are filed. Dick tells Lynne’s father never to come near them again.
Once Watergate happens, and Nixon is out, Rumsfeld as one of the few Republicans not involved is brought back and made Secretary of Defense for President Gerald Ford. Dick becomes Chief of Staff. Cheney meets with young Antonin Scalia to learn about a legal theory called the Unitary Executive Theory, essentially saying anything the president does is legal simply because he or she is the president. Cheney holds this theory close. But before he can implement it, Carter wins the next presidential election, and everyone is out of a job.
Back in Wyoming, Dick runs for Congress but has a heart attack in the middle of his campaign. Lynne goes on many campaign stops and rallies in his place, and he eventually wins the race. After winning, he is able to do things repeal the fairness doctrine that required news outlets to show both sides of the argument, which led to Fox News. At a party, the Cheneys talk with George Bush Sr. and notice his drunk, “black sheep” son George W. (Sam Rockwell).
Vice is a 2018 American biographical comedy-drama film written and directed by Adam McKay. The film stars Christian Bale as former US Vice President Dick Cheney, with Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Tyler Perry, Alison Pill, and Jesse Plemons in supporting roles. Its plot follows Cheney on his path to become the most powerful Vice President in American history.
It is the second theatrical film to depict the presidency of George W. Bush, following Oliver Stone’s W. The film was announced in November 2016, with McKay set to write and direct. Bale signed on to play Cheney in April 2017, and much of the cast joined throughout the rest of that year.
Vice (2018)
Directed by: Adam McKay
Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Alison Pill, Eddie Marsan, Justin Kirk, LisaGay Hamilton, Jesse Plemons, Bill Camp, Don McManus, Shea Whigham
Screenplay by: Adam McKay
Production Design by: Patrice Vermette
Cinematography by: Greig Fraser
Film Editing by: Hank Corwin
Costume Design by: Susan Matheson
Set Decoration by: Jan Pascale
Art Direction by: David Meyer, Brad Ricker, Dean Wolcott
Music by: Nicholas Britell
MPAA Rating: R for language and some violent images.
Distributed by: Annapurna Pictures
Release Date: December 25, 2018
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