Vice

Adam McKay does not only say the account is partisan, he proves it structurally. About an hour in, a false epilogue arrives and the credits roll, then stop, and the film carries on. Later the narrator, played by Jesse Plemons, jokes that Cheney belongs in Shakespeare, and the film takes it literally: Christian Bale and Amy Adams play a scene from Macbeth in verse. Who the narrator is stays hidden until the final minutes. The scene mid credits returns to the focus group from the opening; this time they argue about whether the film itself is biased, and it turns into a fight. McKay had a heart attack after shooting finished, got images of his own blocked artery from his doctor, and put them into the film. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards: best picture, directing, actor in a leading role (Bale), actor in a supporting role (Sam Rockwell), actress in a supporting role (Amy Adams), original screenplay, film editing, and makeup and hairstyling. The last is the only one it won, for Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia Dehaney. A good fit if you take the fake credit roll and the verse Macbeth scene as method rather than burden. Not for viewers who want Cheney’s decisions laid out in order; the chronology breaks constantly, openly so.