Every year as a way to catch up with movies I want to see, I do a triple feature. So last week, I chose three different movies that I wanted to see before they left theaters.
VICE:
☆☆☆ 1/2
When I was in high school, I had a sketch comedy idea called Rumsfeld. That idea was basically reenacting Seinfeld episodes word for word with members of the Bush Administration. Donald Rumsfeld would be Jerry Seinfeld, Dick Cheney would be George Costanza, George W. Bush would be Kramer, and Condoleeza Rice would be Elaine. Just imagine the idea of Dick Cheney talking about shrinkage and yelling “I was in the pool!” It was only funny in my head. It never came to fuition. However, I didn’t think that 15 years later, I’d see a biopic on Dick Cheney take the I, Tonya route, thus having that idea pop back into my head.
Vice is written and directed by Adam McKay, the same man who gave us both Anchorman and The Big Short. Much like Gary Oldman’s Winston Churchill performance last year with Darkest Hour, Vice is Christian Bale’s guaranteed Oscar nomination movie. To describe Vice is if you took House of Cards and mashed it up with The Big Short with a little bit of I, Tonya thrown in for good measure. To say this movie is a unique beast is underselling it. The movie starts off with a title card that ends with “Look, we fucking tried, okay?” in regards to how much of an enigmatic person Dick Cheney is.
Yes, Christian Bale is going to give Bradley Cooper and Rami Malek completion in the Best Actor category. Much like Oldman in Darkest Hour or Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody, you’re not watching an actor play a role. You’re watching Dick Cheney. Bale is completely unrecognizable, putting on 60 lbs to prepare for this role. He has Cheney’s look and vocal timbre down to a science. He even captures some brilliant comedic moments, like being matter of fact about having a heart attack. With no emotion, he just falls to the floor like he knows its coming. All while giving Cheney a cold, calculated edge.
But the other performance that should be talked about is Sam Rockwell’s George W. Bush. Rockwell’s Bush is like watching the real George W. Bush. There are scenes where he is giving Christian Bale a run for his money. Amy Adams performance as Lynne Cheney proves why she is one of my favorite actresses right now.
Vice does a great job exploring both Dick Cheney as a person and as a cutthroat politician. There are even some humorous moments, such as doing a fakeout ending mid movie, complete with credits. My second favorite midcredits scene of 2018 didn’t come from a superhero movie, but rather a film about Dick Cheney. Let’s just say this movie knows it’s going to have some very vocal critics.
As for issues with this film, its WAY too much like The Big Short. The Big Short worked for me because it explained the complexities of the Great Recession in Lamens terms. There is a lot more leeway to do something like have Margot Robbie in a bathtub explaining complex financial terms than there is in a biopic about a Vice President. The couple humorous scenes I mentioned were the only times I laughed.
Vice seems way more focused on winking at the camera than telling the story of Dick Cheney. I’m well aware that’s the point, but there are instances where that doesn’t work. Winking to the camera works for I, Tonya because the actual events leading up to the Nancy Kerrigan incident were ridiculous in and of itself. With Vice, you’re dealing with a man who pulled all the strings in the Bush Administration. The reason most people hated George W. Bush IS because of Dick Cheney. Post-Presidency, George W. Bush seems much more interested in feeding Michelle Obama candy at state funerals than starting wars.
If you’re taking the satiric biopic route, you could easily cut 20 minutes out of this film. More specifically, you can cut out Jesse Plemons’ role as the blue collar, de facto narrator of this film.
This is a film that at times is wildly miscast. Steve Carell can be a great actor, but his Donald Rumsfeld comes off as Brick Tamland working for the Bush Administration, as was epilogued in Anchorman. You also have Naomi Watts playing this blonde news reporter who shows up occasionally to deliver exposistion.
Vice is an otherwise interesting look into a complex man. If you’re going to take anything away from this film, at least give praise to Christian Bale’s great performance. This is going to be a super divisive film. However, I think a deserves a watch.
MARY POPPINS RETURNS:
☆☆☆
If there ever was a time for the movie musical to make a comeback, it is right now. In fact, its roaring back in a big way with La La Land, The Greatest Showman, and even the live action Disney remakes. So I get why there would be a sequel to Mary Poppins. Disney has a hard on for remaking every animated classic into live action, with THREE live action remakes coming out next year.
Mary Poppins Returns focuses on the grown up Banks children. Now a widower with three children, Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw) is a starving artist facing a foreclosure. His sister Jane (Emily Mortimer) lives with him and is actively campaigning for unionization. As the iconic kite flies away, in comes Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) to bring joy to Michael Banks’ children with the help of charming lamp lighter Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda).
So there are a few good things about this film: just imagine being asked to play Mary Poppins as an actress. The role is practically untouchable. Julie Andrews was practically perfect in every way. Imagine seeing an actress who I last saw play an FBI agent caught in a moral grey area in Sicario and as a pregnant woman in the middle of a silent alien apocalypse in A Quiet Place, take on the role of Mary Poppins. Emily Blunt brings that Julie Andrews warmth to the role of Mary Poppins. She has a great vocal range and takes on the role of Mary Poppins and makes it her own.
Also of note is Lin-Manuel Miranda who I appreciate keeping the bad Cockney accent as a tip of the hat to Dick Van Dyke. Miranda wears his Broadway background on his sleeve, delivering some of the better musical numbers. One number I want to highlight is when he performs “Trip a Little Light Fantastic.” It is seven minutes of pure movie musical bliss.
There are two cameos towards the end of this film that I won’t spoil that are actually wonderful. One of the cameos I could clearly tell was written for Julie Andrews, but she was busy voicing a sea monster in Aquaman. No, really. Thats a pretty baller move Warner Bros.
It just feels good to see 2D animation again. Come on Disney, you have enough money to buy Fort Knox. Put out some 2D animation already! Also, I love how surprisingly dark the 2D animation segment gets.
But…let’s be real. This is a remake of Mary Poppins disguised as a sequel. Mary Poppins Returns just plays the greatest hits from the first movie without any of the memorable music. Aside from “Trip a Little Light Fantastic,” none of the songs popped with me. I still religiously listen to the Sing Street, La La Land and The Greatest Showman soundtracks because those songs are memorable as hell. There is no “A Spoonful of Sugar” or “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” standout song in this film. You could do more with this film than do a remake disguised as a sequel.
Can we talk how cartoonish of a villain Colin Firth is? The one thing I did love about about Mary Poppins was Mr. Banks’ story was heavily grounded in reality. The scene where Mr. Banks walks to the bank to get fired is gut wrenching. With Colin Firth, his performance was taking me out of the movie.
So let’s address the other elephant in the room: did we really need a Mary Poppins sequel? Original Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers notoriously hated the movie and didn’t want sequels made. However, a deal was struck for this to happen years after her death due to a loophole in her will.
Is Mary Poppins Returns practically perfect in every way? No. Is it a harmless film that you could take your kids to see? Yes. Much like Bird Box, I thought Mary Poppins Returns was just fine. It wasn’t groundbreaking, but if you have kids, it’s a solid matinee or Discount Tuesday movie.
I did say this was a triple feature. However one of the movies I saw was so atrocious, it needed it’s own review.
Ryan Watches 