Vice (2018)

There is something quite underwhelming about Vice, and it's the music. Nicholas Britell composed the most beautiful soundtrack of the year for If Beale Street Could Talk. So I had some high expectations for Vice too. But the music is disappointingly bland, typically Washington DC invoking West Wing or House of Cards. Compare this to the really slick, snazzy trailer so sharply edited to the music. The movie really misses out on the style that made The Big Short and even the Vice trailer unique and fun. The movie does have a style, it's mockumentary without the talking head interviews. I really dislike the ending in which the Dick Cheney turns his head to break the fourth wall for the first time. It's unnecessarily jarring and so clearly copying House of Cards. I guess we're supposed to draw a parallel to Frank Underwood's iconic evil, but Cheney's real evil can stand on it's own. He's already sitting for an interview; he could have said the exact same monologue to the interviewer. Overall, the movie feels tonally awkward. The narration feels very out of place.

There are some things done well. Adam McKay draws an abundantly clear line from Dick Cheney to Donald Trump. He hears all the rank and file Republicans crying that this is not their GOP, and he demonstrates plainly how wrong they are. Trump naturally emerges from the traditions of Cheney-style conservatism. And McKay will not let them deny it. Call it a primary source on our contemporary times. The situation is so dire that you can only laugh to not cry.

The acting is superb all around. Steve Carrell has been acting in dramas lately, but you really see him shine in comedies. Amy Adams is stellar as usual. And Christian Bale is phenomenal, as is his make-up artist. He is absolutely unrecognizable and looks uncannily like Dick Cheney.

The Big Short (2015)

The Big Short succeeds in explaining economic concepts to the average viewer in an accessible way. A Jenga demonstration by Ryan Gosling makes perfect sense. There are hilariously placed cameos by Margot Robbie, Selena Gomez, Anthony Bourdain and economist Richard Thaler. They use analogies to explain economics and break the fourth wall, as do many of the characters. It is like a well-made documentary at some points. The style of the movie is so unconventional that it makes you laugh. The picture freezes to allow the narration come in, and there are rapid cuts of historic/cultural images to show passage of time. The movie nicely balances comedy with drama. Steve Carrell and Brad Pitt bring some conscience to heartless Wall Street.

The movie simultaneously follows three groups who separately short the housing market, depicting the greatest economic collapse of our time from the point of view of the only people who benefited from it.  We watch them as they separately come to the revelation that would cripple the world economy. The ensemble cast is excellent, and I think Steve Carrell does exceptionally well in a role that I would not have picked him for. It falls somewhere in between the ridiculousness of The Office, and the dark drama Foxcatcher. There is nuance in his role as he comes to the realization that we are all doomed.

The film is a searing indictment of the whole system at every level from the banks to the rating agencies to the regulators. It really brings meaning to the phrase "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention" (Portlandia). You root for the protagonists who awaken and bet on the seemingly impossible. But then you realize that their bet is against the American economy, actually the world economy. They could be seen as villains, but they're really not at fault for reading the fine print. But nor are they heroes. There are no heroes in the economic crisis, just varying degrees of villainy. At the end, it all comes together when Carrell comes to the greatest, move devastating and tragic and cynical realization: it's not stupidity, it's not a matter of paying attention, it's a lack of care knowing that that'll get away with it and the less fortunate will suffer for it.

Welcome to Me (2014)

This movie was very strange. Just listen to the premise: a woman with borderline personality disorder wins the lottery and uses her winnings to buy a talk show.  She basically aspires to be Oprah. How do you make a personality disorder funny? Leave that to Kristen Wiig.  This movie has the same feel as The Skeleton Twins--it is sort of slow, has its moments, but drags in the middle. Wiig lives in a casino for some reason, has some weird obsession with swans, and she silently, uncomfortably stares into the camera a lot.  Basically, her character is pretty crazy and Wiig just runs with it. It's so ridiculous that it just barely works. This only works because of her, and Joan Cusack is pretty funny too.