Adam McKay’s follow-up to his acclaimed drama about the 2008 financial crisis, The Big Short, takes aim at most liberals’ personal Voldermort from this century’s first decade: Vice President Dick Cheney. Vice is far from a traditional biopic and embraces the idiosyncrasies that made McKay’s The Big Short such a stand-out. Unfortunately, a little style goes a long way as Vice becomes very aggressive in its politics and the way it preaches directly to the audience. The film also has a structure where you bounce around Cheney’s life almost at random thus making it difficult to ever really find your footing in the story. Vice is packed with some terrific performances and is generally entertaining from moment-to-moment but its frequent diatribes and scattershot approach make for an uneven viewing experience. Grade: B-
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