MOVIE REVIEW: VICE

Gov. George W. Bush of Texas picks Dick Cheney, the CEO of Halliburton Co., to be his Republican running mate in the 2000 presidential election. No stranger to politics, Cheney's impressive résumé includes stints as White House chief of staff, House Minority Whip and defense secretary. When Bush wins by a narrow margin, Cheney begins to use his newfound power to help reshape the country and the world.

Director: Adam McKay

Cast: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Jesse Plemons

Release Date: December 25, 2018

Genres: Biography, Comedy, Drama

Rated R for language and some violent images

Runtime: 2h 12 min

Review:

Vice is an interesting movie to experience.  At its base it’s about a Washington power player who ascends to the highest levels of office and enacting some of worst portions of the Bush presidency.  Vice, though, isn’t interested in a straightforward approach.  Instead Adam McKay opts for something a bit more comedic and much more meta.  As such, the film is  entertaining because of how the story is told even while rooting around in some of the darker parts of the last 10 years.  In addition to McKay’s style, the cast is all stellar with each of them disappearing into their respective roles.  Christian Bale leads the film with one of his body transformations.  But outside of the drastic body transformation, Bale simply dissolves into Dick Cheney utterly inhabiting his skin. It’s the type of performance that’s a shoe in for an Oscar nod.  Amy Adams, in a quieter and less showy role, is equally impressive as Cheney’s Lady MacBeth Lynn Cheney.  The supporting roles are peppered with familiar faces like Sam Rockwell and Steve Carrell all of whom turn in quality performances that make the film all the better.  Ultimately, your enjoyment of the film maybe tempered by your political stance since the film isn’t necessary going to win many approving nods from one side of the isle.  If the film has a major fault it’s that even with all the excellent performances, we are kept at arms length from the characters themselves.  We never get a real sense of who these people are or what truly motivates them.  We see their actions but never truly know why they do what they do and perhaps that’s McKay’s point.

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES

Will Ferrell returns to the role of Ron Burgundy in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, which finds the popular San Diego television newsman pulling up stakes with co-host Veronica (Christina Applegate), his intrepid reporter Brian (Paul Rudd), overenthusiastic sports reporter Champ (David Koechner), and imbecilic weatherman Brick (Steve Carell) in order to move to New York City and launch the first ever 24-hour news network. Adam McKay, who directed the original, returns as well to helm this comedy. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Director: Adam McKay

Cast: Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, Christina Applegate

Release Date: Dec 18, 2013

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, drug use, language
and comic violence

Runtime: 1 hr. 59 min.

Genres: Comedy

Review:

Let’s get this out of the way right from the start. Anchorman 2 isn’t as funny or consistent as the original. Sky high expectations from fans, like myself, left the sequel with the nearly impossible task of topping the first film. That being said, the sequel does have plenty of bright spots with certain sequences veering into outlandish hilarity especially a certain cameo filled sequence near the end. Will Ferrell loves this character, in case you didn’t notice his 5 month in character publicity tour, and I still think it’s his most complete creation. The returning cast is all fun even if some get less screen time while others get more with varying results. Kristen Wiig’s role isn’t as large as the trailers lead you to believe but she has good chemistry with Steve Carell. I do think their portions of the film will split people, some loving it and others finding it utterly stupid. Meagan Good is a solid addition to the cast and she shows off some real comedic chops throughout. The plot is fairly clever even though there are a handful of recycled sequences from the first film. The biggest issue is that the film overall is overlong. The original film was a lean hour and half comedy. The sequel clocks in at nearly 2 hours and it has too many dead spot to warrant that runtime. All in all, the sequel is like Ron Burgundy’s life, filled with hilarious peaks and so-so valleys.

B-