Neutral Stance (VICE Movie Review)

Kat and Ryley read the one-star reviews for Adam McKay's "Vice"

The political reviews were left out for your listening pleasure.

Review Overview: If you were too young to know what was going on during the Bush administration, this movie would give you the summary you need.
This movie would probably feel redundant if you were old enough to witness it all and understand it.
Structurally it is a little messy.
At some points, it feels like it's trying to humanize Cheney, but it reminds you who he really is.
It's set up in a way that makes you think McKay wanted to direct it at the right, but the only people who wanted to see this movie were already on the same page.
Nonetheless, it's funny, and Christian Bale does a fantastic job.
Kat and Ryley: 8/10

kat 0:12

Hello,

ryley 0:13

and welcome to

EASY BAKE TAKES 0:15

Easy Bake takes

ryley 0:16

the podcast

kat 0:17

Where we read the one star reviews of your favorite movies and more. My name is Kat

ryley 0:22

And I'm Ryley.

kat 0:23

And this week we watched Vice.

ryley 0:25

We did.

kat 0:26

Vice came out in December of 2018, two hour and 12 minute long movie that is rated R and iss considered a Drama/Comedy. And the sources I used for the background information are IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Wikipedia. So just a quick plot breakdown. So the movie is narrated by an Afghan and Iraq War veteran named Kurt. So Vice follows Dick Cheney through his political career starting before when his wife Lynn helps him work through his alcoholism, and helps him get into Princeton. He started his career interning for Congressman Rumsfeld during the Nixon administration. Cheney learns the ins and outs of US politics and is forced to take a break when Carter is elected. Cheney runs for representative of Wyoming and has his first heart attack. Cheney then serves under George HW Bush as Secretary of Defense and then Cheney's daughter Mary comes out as a lesbian. And then Cheney decides to retire from public life to spare his daughter from media scrutiny, and then he becomes CEO of Halliburton. Then he becomes George W. Bush's running mate, and Cheney and Rumsfeld, initiate and preside over the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Following the 911 attacks, the narrator Kurt dies and his heart is transplant planted to Cheney, Liz Cheney runs for the same Wyoming Senate seat and wins it and also betrays her sister by publicly saying that she is against gay marriage. And then the film ends with a focus group from earlier in the film arguing about the efficacy of the film, and Donald Trump's job as president, and that is the end of the movie. This movie was directed and written by Adam McKay and two of the producers were actually Brad Pitt and Will Ferrell and Will Ferrell actually started Adam McKay's production company with him and one other person, I believe.

ryley 2:17

Oh my gosh.

kat 2:18

could you imagine it because like, I know, Will Ferrell played George W on SNL?

ryley 2:24

Yes, he did.

kat 2:25

It would be so funny if he was him in this movie.

ryley 2:27

I honestly, I would've loved it. Honestly, I'm for it. I wish he did. I love Sam Rockwell.

kat 2:34

He did a great job.

ryley 2:34

He did. I love Sam Rockwell. He did a fantastic job but would have been very funny if Will Ferrell was him.

kat 2:39

Yes. And speaking of which the cast: Christian Bale plays Dick Cheney. Amy Adams plays Lynn Cheney. Steve Carell plays Donald Rumsfeld. Tyler Perry plays Colin Powell. Alison Pill plays Mary Cheney, Lily Rabe plays Liz Cheney, Jesse Plemons is the narrator slash Kurt. And Sam Rockwell plays George W. Bush. And there's more. But those are the main characters in this movie. So some trivia I have a lot of trivia. And I have a few historical inaccuracies. I won't get into like some of the ones that are a little more convoluted, I guess. Because I personally don't know what they're talking about.

ryley 3:17

Yeah, yeah, we're not gonna talk about it.

kat 3:19

We'll leave that to the experts because we

ryley 3:21

Yeah, exactly.

kat 3:21

We are not political experts.

ryley 3:22

Nope

kat 3:23

But to the fun trivia. Christian Bale gained 45 pounds, shaved his head, bleached his eyebrows and exercised to thicken his neck and said that he ate a lot of pies to prepare for this role. He also claimed that this was the first time he used a nutritionist for this process, because he's a lot more concerned with his health now than he was in the past. Like, for example,

ryley 3:44

Thank god.

kat 3:45

If you don't know for the machinist, he lost in a very intense amount of weight for that role. And then because of McKay's improv style directing, Bale had to do a lot more research than he had ever done on any character that he's portrayed before. And he had to learn like everything down to like, Cheney's mannerisms, any vernacular that he would have used and the policies that were in play at the time, as well as like the instances they would have been used in an abbreviation abbreviations that would be like relevant to the government. And then I don't know how you feel about this, but Amy Adams stayed in character while they were filming and would have political debates without McKay. And she said that this was the first time she ever stayed in character during filming.

ryley 4:29

Why?

kat 4:30

I would have gotten really annoyed if I was Adam McKay.

ryley 4:34

Of all characters to stay in character for why?

kat 4:36

Why Liz Cheney,

ryley 4:37

why the most annoying one?

kat 4:38

Or Lynn Cheney

ryley 4:38

Why the most annoying character you've ever played? Okay.

kat 4:41

Yeah, and she did great though, so maybe it paid off.

ryley 4:44

Fantastic, fantastic job. But like, I hate method acting, but we won't get into it

kat 4:49

Yeah, that's that's a ti- that's a conversation for another day. But another fun fact, Christian Bale and Dick Cheney have the same birthday. 33 years apart.

ryley 4:57

Holy crap.

kat 4:58

Yeah.

ryley 4:58

Oh my god. What's the sign?

kat 5:00

Aquarius.

ryley 5:01

Oh.

kat 5:02

Interesting. And if you don't know this, Christian Bale thanked Satan in his golden globe acceptance speech for the role. And it was actually Christian Bale's idea to have Cheney character break the fourth wall at the end and unlike talk directly to camera. Liz Cheney, the daughter of Dick Cheney responded to Christian Bale's portrayal of her father on Fox and Friends, and said, quote, "he finally had the chance to play a real superhero, and he clearly screwed it up," end quote, calling Dick Cheney a real superhero. I mean, that is her dad.

ryley 5:41

Grow up.

kat 5:42

Yeah.

ryley 5:43

you're wrong.

kat 5:43

I'll just say this now, we're not gonna get too far into the political side of everything on this one. Like, even with the audience reviews, I tried not to find ones that were just like, this is propaganda.

ryley 5:55

Yeah

kat 5:56

You know? So we're gonna try and steer clear of that. But just you're

ryley 5:59

More movie based.

kat 5:59

You can pick up on where we stand here.

ryley 6:02

Oh, I hope you can.

kat 6:03

I hope you can, too. But this movie won an Oscar for Best Makeup/hairstyling, which I agree with. All of like, I saw side by side pictures of all of the actors and their roles and the people they were portraying, almost identical and every single one of them like, amazing job. But they also want a BAFTA for Best Editing and Christian Bale won a Golden Globe for Best Performance in a musical/comedy. And then I have a few historical inaccuracies that were listed. Apparently, it's not pronounced Cheney (Chain-ee). It's pronounced Cheen-ee, but we're just going to keep saying Cheney.

ryley 6:38

Yeah, I'm not changing. I'm changing that. Yeah.

kat 6:43

Yeah no. It's mentioned that Donald Rumsfeld was a jet pilot in the Navy. But apparently, he was never a jet pilot. He actually only flew propeller engine aircraft.

ryley 6:52

Yeah he was so fucking old. They didn't have jets back then.

kat 6:57

And then Dick Cheney's first- did- actually did not intern with Rumsfeld. He actually interned with Congressman Steiger, who introduced him to Rumsfeld. And then he started working more with the Nixon administration from there. And then also, they're shown pre 911, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are both shown wearing the American flag on their lapel, but that really didn't become a trend until after 911. So they wouldn't have been wearing the American flag on their lapel before then. All of the other historical inaccuracies were like specific like political conversations and things and like saying this person did this and this, but a lot of it was at least correctly attributed. The guy who came up with the term death tax and all of that, like whole sequence of the movie, that actually was that guy. So now that we have all the trivia and historical inaccuracies that I felt like including out of the way, What did you think?

ryley 7:50

this movie reminded me a lot of the movie The Big Short

kat 7:54

Yes, that I saw that a lot in the critic reviews

ryley 7:56

and I really-

kat 7:57

Same director

ryley 7:58

Is it?

kat 7:58

Yeah

ryley 7:58

That makes sense. Because like, they're very similar. Storytelling, breaking it down, fourth walls being broken, like breaking down information.

kat 8:05

That one's about the 2008 recession. Right?

ryley 8:07

Mhm. Breaking it down for dummies who, who don't know anything?

kat 8:10

Yeah.

ryley 8:11

It's definitely not for anyone who actually likes Dick Cheney.

kat 8:14

Yeah, yeah. Go on. What else did you think about it?

ryley 8:17

There was a really funny scene where so like, he went to the hospital like several times.

kat 8:21

Yeah, he had like four heart attacks, I think.

ryley 8:23

Yeah, there's one in the home. I forgot exactly what they're doing. But he goes, I'm gonna have to go to the hospital and his wife goes, Are you serious? Because he's had so many. She goes, are you serious?

kat 8:33

I- my favorite one whenever- My favorite time that he goes to the hospital for a heart attack. Is whenever I don't remember what they asked him, but he's like, I'm having a heart attack you dumbass.

ryley 8:44

Yes, that was really funny, too. It's a heart attack, dumbass.

kat 8:47

Yeah

ryley 8:48

I mean, he's still alive. That's the whole thing.

kat 8:49

Yeah. I mean, he got a new heart.

ryley 8:52

Exactly. So it's just kind- I don't know like his his healthy, you know, is always is that- that's why they're showing it because for the end. One thing that like I got chills from George Bush won, he's vice president. I say that boy with the Oval Office. He just has this red light orange red light. He never became president. But he didn't have to, you still get all the power. So frightening.

kat 9:15

Yeah, I- What did you think about the part where they started doing like Shakespeare monologue?

ryley 9:20

That was I thought they were Bible verses or like-

kat 9:23

Kind of alluding to Macbeth.

ryley 9:25

Oh, okay. Well, for me, it's like this movie. It's satire. And there's scenes where it's not literal. It's a joke.

Kat 9:31

Yeah.

Ryley 9:48

The scene where he's talking to Gerald Ford, and he's going like, oh, this go pardon my French but this little jerk off on the line. He goes, that's a good idea. But really, they're firing someone. But they're just trying to show the point that he could talk his way through anything. I think with that scene with the Bible verses like I don't think-

kat 9:47

It's shakespeare.

ryley 9:48

I thought it was just it was just like the same thing of like, it's a joke. And really, when they cut to it, they're just like going it's just a me- or something like that's just the meaning or whatever and.

kat 9:57

Yeah.

ryley 9:57

It's more metaphorical than anything you know.

kat 9:59

Yeah.

ryley 9:59

I thought it was funny.

kat 10:00

I thought it was like a funny play on like how in biopics like nobody really like for the most part, you don't really know exactly what conversations were happening. So it was funny that they were just like, let's just

ryley 10:10

Oh yes.

kat 10:11

Throw shit in there

ryley 10:12

Throw in a wild scene.

kat 10:14

The essence of what was happening.

ryley 10:15

Yeah, absolutely. Didn't know he had a gay daughter and I didn't know he was kind of pro-

kat 10:21

good about it?

ryley 10:22

Yeah, like

kat 10:24

that comes up in one of the audience reviews too. But we'll get there

ryley 10:27

Kind of- Yeah, that's a whole thing. I didn't know that.

kat 10:30

Yeah.

ryley 10:30

And I didn't know his views on it not saying they were great.

kat 10:34

You know what happens at the end? When is his other daughter is running for Senate. And you know, she has to publicly say she doesn't support it. And his daughter Mary knows that sh- that Liz would not do that. Without Dick Cheney's approval. It's one of those things where it's like he's supportive, but only for his own kid. Like he doesn't support it as a whole, like.

ryley 10:54

Yeah, absolutely. And the way he phrases it, too, is like, oh, it should be a state issue to pick apart. It like it's very, very, like, had his daughter not been gay he I mean, that would even be a topic that he'd be discussing he'd just be against all of it.

kat 11:09

Yeah

ryley 11:09

But because his kids gay.

kat 11:10

He just cares about her well being in the whole situation, which I-

ryley 11:14

Exactly

kat 11:14

I- I respect that until the part with Liz Cheney, where it's clear that he like is like, well, I prioritize her political career over your happiness in this insance.

ryley 11:24

Over your rights.

kat 11:24

Over your rights and happiness. Like, because I remember when the movie first came out, a lot of people were like, was this movie just trying to convince me he was a good dad or? Like.

ryley 11:33

I mean, like, that's the whole thing with this movie. Like, I don't think they were showing him a good light.

kat 11:39

No.

ryley 11:39

Not technically, but I don't know. There was some points. I was like, it's just seemed like a I don't know. It made me- I forgot who was watching in a few scenes. I forgot who was who that person was in a few scenes. So I don't think that's a good or bad thing. It's just part of what the movie kind of does.

kat 11:59

Yeah.

ryley 11:59

Which I guess shows perspective.

kat 12:02

It's-

ryley 12:02

I don't know I want to take that back because I'm not- I in no way support this man.

kat 12:07

You know what-

ryley 12:07

And I don't think this movie does either.

kat 12:09

You know what, I think a good way to put it is? It's kind of the opposite of Bernie. Where Bernie was showing you good people can do bad things. This one's showing you bad people can do good things sometimes.

ryley 12:19

That is such a perfect way to describe it.

kat 12:21

Yeah. And I think that's exactly what this has. And so like you're conflicted in a different way with this movie because you're like why am I sympathizing with this man right now? Like why why do i Why am I forgetting everything about him in this moment in this scene? and like you know the movies not trying to convince you to like him

ryley 12:37

No, it's human nature to be like

kat 12:39

Find the good.

ryley 12:40

Exactly and I'm not saying this was a good- he was a good person whatsoever. In the movie did they ever talk about when he shot that dude?

kat 12:46

Mhm

ryley 12:47

Okay.

kat 12:47

Yes, they did. And they said that Dick Cheney has never publicly apologized for that but the Bush family apologized to Dick Cheney.

ryley 12:55

What?

kat 12:56

they basically said something along the lines of like the Bush family was like, we hope that you won't like swear off coming to Texas ever again because of this.

ryley 13:05

What do he have on them? Because he must have- at some point that he must have had something on them.

kat 13:11

Oh, yeah.

ryley 13:11

My goodness.

kat 13:12

Well its the Bush family.

ryley 13:13

Yeah. It's not like he had to like

kat 13:17

Dig.

ryley 13:17

Be real sneaky about it. He probably just had to walk into a room and went hm.

kat 13:20

So that's what you're doing.

ryley 13:22

Ah

kat 13:22

Is there anything else you had?

ryley 13:24

Not right now.

kat 13:25

Okay. I also don't have a whole lot. Really just like stuff that you've already said. And I think at first I liked it for the informational thing where I'm like, Okay, well the extent my knowledge on Dick Cheney before watching this movie was Dick Cheney made money off the Iraq war. That meme.

Ryley 13:42

Yep.

Kat 13:43

Like that's the extent of what I knew. So I liked it for that I liked it for like the I'm okay, I'm learning a little more insight into who this person was. After watching it the first time it becomes more of like a Oh, this is fun to watch for the satire moreso than learning.

ryley 13:58

It's a- it's an enjoyable movie to watch like

kat 14:01

Yeah.

ryley 14:01

comedy sake. It doesn't it didn't- well, it also makes you angry too.

kat 14:06

Yeah.

ryley 14:06

Just try not to get angry. Try to enjoy it for what it is because it is trying to tell you like all the shit in a comedic ways as much as possible.

kat 14:13

Yes. Okay. Well, that's that's all I really have too. So are you ready to move on to the critics?

ryley 14:19

Yes.

kat 14:20

So the first critic review I have, this was written on Black Girl Nerds by Jamie Broadnax in 2018. She says that McKay's interpretation is, quote, "a bit off kilter for most biopics we've seen of political figures," end quote. And says that the stylized tone, coupled with the jarring cutaways as comedic devices, makes the film fail to deliver an earnest story. Says that the midway credits were unnecessary

ryley 14:46

I thought it was funny.

kat 14:47

I did too.

ryley 14:48

I thought that was- that was a great bit.

kat 14:50

I agree.

ryley 14:51

You fucking know it's not the end.

kat 14:53

Yeah.

ryley 14:54

Kinda silly.

kat 14:55

I thought it was hilairious

ryley 14:56

It's a great bit. It's a comedy, whatever.

kat 14:58

But she also says that Cheney Political career isn't something to make light of and says quote, "I would be a bit more forgiving if this kind of can't be storytelling came from Michael Moore since this is a schtick," end quote. And said that Mackay's want to tell an authentic slash compelling stories undercut by sarcasm and humor. And that Rockwell's performance as George W. Bush is impressive and that Tyler Perry's performance as Colin Powell is short but memorable. Ends the review with quote, "Vice delivers impressive performances, but as a narrative, there's room for improvement. I can't in good faith take this movie seriously because of how it was executed, but it seems I am in the minority, given how well it's gaining steam in the award circuit," end quote. I always saw it as like a complete satire, but they're still informational, but it's mostly satire.

ryley 15:47

Here's the thing when you told me to go watch this, I thought- I knew it was gonna have like it was going to talk about Dick Cheney. I didn't know it was going to be as satirical as it ended up being.

kat 15:56

Yeah.

ryley 15:57

I had to watch and went oh, this is all like

kat 15:59

They're just taking the piss out of him. Yeah.

ryley 16:01

They're taking the piss out of him, that's the whole thing. That's what this movie does. And I watched it and realized, and I enjoyed the movie very much because of it.

kat 16:08

I think we talked about this with Bernie where just people were expecting something else, I guess. I don't know. I saw the trailer for that movie and kind of picked up on the satiricalness and had different expectations, I guess. But the next review I have is from The Washington Post and was written by Ann Hornaday in December of 2018. And she gave this movie a 1.5 out of four. And says that McKay is trying to invent a new cinematic language. And quote, "although the filmmakers ambition is commendable, in this case, the end result feels both busily overdetermined and bluntly simplistic," end quote.

ryley 16:13

I can. Okay.

kat 16:41

I just don't see how that's a problem, personally.

ryley 16:45

I don't either because it's like The Big Short I need- I need dumbed down information, because I don't know what happened. And if you just breeze through it in the movie, I'm not going to like this movie because I don't know what the-

kat 16:55

Yeah

ryley 16:55

I don't know what you guys are talking about. So tell me. Are they saying like it's patronizing?

kat 17:00

I-

ryley 17:00

Maybe?

kat 17:01

Okay or- so I'm not sure if I wrote this down or not. But it comes up in another- in another review. But it was something along the lines of like, everyone who's in the target audience of this movie already knows about all these events that happened. So they don't need it dumbed down, but I think people in our age group, we were too young to be politically aware.

ryley 17:19

Yeah. Okay.

kat 17:21

That's what I'm getting from it.

ryley 17:22

I get that.

kat 17:23

Yeah. But they also say that this movie is structurally a mess. And you never know when it's going to end and when it does, and it leaves few penetrating or genuinely illuminating ideas to ponder. And ends the review with quote, "the cipher like eminence at the story center remains stubbornly in the grays." I think this critic just doesn't know what to make of it.

ryley 17:42

Yeah.

kat 17:43

Didn't like that it was dumbed down and made a little more simplistic.

ryley 17:48

Okay.

kat 17:49

Yeah.

ryley 17:49

Like, like almost like it wasn't as serious as I thought it was gonna be.

kat 17:53

That's what it seems like.

ryley 17:55

That's what it sounds like, to me, is what they meant. I don't want to say- I don't want to put words in their mouth but. Called it struct- it structurally a mess. I don't think this was it was a mess. But they do have a point with the structure. In my opinion. There were times where I'm like, Wait, did that really happen? What? When is this?

kat 18:11

Yeah.

ryley 18:12

Not saying that was a huge issue, but I can kinda-

kat 18:15

No, I get what you mean.

ryley 18:15

I see their point on that one.

kat 18:17

Yeah. And when they say that it's busily overdetermined I think they try to push in too many comedic elements. And certain points where it's like they try to do like that Shakespeare thing and they do a lot of like freeze frames, and they do a lot of all this other- all these other comedic devices at the same time. I still enjoyed it. But I agree that that is happening.

ryley 18:34

Absolutely. I still enjoy this movie a lot. But it's, I can get why someone could find this movie messy.

kat 18:41

Yes. So we'll move on to our second to last critic review from Deep Focus Review by Brian Eggert from December of 2018. And he gave this movie a two out of four. And says that McKay's approach only explores Cheney's political maneuvers, not his motivations. There's hardly any character development and says that it's unsubtle, angry means to expose the lies at Cheney's center. And quote, "McKay forgoes creating any dramatic investment to instead put forth his unabashed hatred of his subject," unquote. I don't think this- I don't think Dick Cheney has ever had character development in his whole life.

Ryley 18:42

I think that's just an accurate portrayal of the person in the movie.

Kat 19:14

I think that was the point. And I guess that would lend to like an unsubtle, angry means to expose to Cheney. Has he really- has he really gone anywhere but the dark side?

ryley 19:35

Honestly, though, yeah. And see, I think that that's an unfair statement, because I don't think it's hateful. I want to say this, like,

kat 19:44

It's just not favorable.

ryley 19:45

It's just not favorable. It's not hateful. It's just not favorable. And-

kat 19:48

Like you said, there are p- are points when you kind of simple kind of like you're seeing a human.

ryley 19:53

At least early on in the movie.

kat 19:54

Yeah. It's just showing you where he went from the like, it's just-

ryley 19:57

Exactly, exactly and I'm sorry was anything that movie like a big lie that he did? No. And just because you don't- just because you it's not nice doesn't mean it's hateful.

kat 20:10

Yes

ryley 20:10

It's just unfavorable.

kat 20:11

I think it's just somebody being like, Was anyone paying attention to this guy?

ryley 20:15

Nope. Crawling to the shadows

kat 20:17

Yeah.

ryley 20:17

of the White House

kat 20:18

Yeah.

ryley 20:19

making decisions.

kat 20:20

This next point that Eggert brings up is the point I was talking about a second ago. Eggert was unsure of the target audience of the film in McKay's mind and the audience that watched it was already on his side. Which I agree and I think that also leads to some of the points that the other critics made where they weren't really sure, necessarily, why the movie was made in the way it was made. And especially with the end monologue of Dick Cheney, staring into the camera and being like you voted me in. You did. It's like, well, the people that are watching the movie did not.

ryley 20:52

No kidding. We were babies when.

kat 20:55

Yeah, well, that and the people that don't like Dick Cheney,

ryley 20:59

Exactly.

kat 20:59

Did not vote for George Bush.

ryley 21:00

Exactly.

kat 21:01

Eggert ends the review with quote, "regrettably, by preaching to the converted, the material serves only to make us angrier than we already were, but it's seldom helps us understand the subject more than we already did." end quote.

ryley 21:13

I agree with that first part, like, we're more angry than we started with. But I understand why.

kat 21:20

Yeah.

ryley 21:21

I'm more angry. You know,

kat 21:22

That's another thing. It's like this is coming probably from the perspective of somebody who already knew these things.

ryley 21:28

Oh. Okay.

kat 21:29

We'll move on to the last critic review that we have and is from Us Weekly, written by Mr. Weinstein, in December of 2018, who gave the movie a three out of four and starts with quote, "vice is like a hand grenade exploding on impact," end quote. And says that Bale has an uncanny ability to physically transform into a role. The flaws of vice are not reflected in bales performance. And says that bales performance was terrific. And says that McCain doesn't offer insight into Cheney psyche, other than vague desire to please his wife.

ryley 22:01

I totally disagree.

kat 22:03

I don't know. I don't really I don't think we learn

ryley 22:05

He was so-

kat 22:06

really like, what the like, what he thinks he's gaining out of it other than his wife pushing him

ryley 22:12

But they mention that in the movie. Yes. But they mentioned that in the movie, like, we don't know what he was thinking. We do know he was calculated. And that's something that I think it did show like he's so calculated, He's greedy. He's an opportunist.

kat 22:24

I think because he's so secretive. We would never know. So I don't, you know?

ryley 22:27

I think that's probably maybe hard to show in the movie, but I don't I I don't I don't necessarily agree with that.

kat 22:33

She also says that the information from 1977 to 2008 is presented with energetic pacing and zippy dialogue and the film will likely make red state voters angry. And it approaches serious subject with cynical yet winking humor. And ends the review with quote, "depending on your political viewpoint, Vice comes down to a leader behaving spectacularly badly or intelligently. Either way, there is something fascinating, if not troubling, about a civil servant who speaks softly and carries a mighty powerful stick." end quote, that's the end of the critic reviews. Are you- Do you have anything else are you ready to move on to the audience?

ryley 23:10

I'm ready to move on.

kat 23:11

Okay. The first audience review I have is from IMDB. It's a 10 out of 10 but it is titled "masterpiece" and was written in January of 2019. And says, "Christian Bale knocks it out of the park with a character that he clearly took much care and studying and mastering. To degrade this movie for its artistic style or political leanings is folly. A powerhouse performance interspersed with Tarantino esque farcical segues. Great performances and a fresh art direction, truly well done. I don't usually write reviews, I was disgusted by some of the low ratings given here for all the wrong reasons. Respect should be given where it is due. The performances and direction of this movie are due respect."

ryley 23:52

Yeah, I didn't talk about, the cast is amazing. Like Christian Bale is very, very, very, very, very good in this movie.

kat 23:59

They all do a really good job. But moving on to our first negative review of the movie. The first negative review I have is a one of the 10 from IMDb. Titled "this passes for a quote based on true story" and was written in January of 2019. "I'm no fan of bush or Cheney, but really? And Hollywood continues to wonder why they can't connect with Middle America? The hatred is on full display masquerading as entertainment. I will give credit to Christian Bale though. A good actor is a good actor, no matter the tripe, they are regurgitating. I'd prefer some that was at least humorous and it's ridiculousness." You really think they're they're going to take a neutral view of Cheney?

ryley 24:38

That's the funniest sentence you've like, that's the funny that should be the title of neutral stance on Dick Cheney. Not by us.

kat 24:45

No

ryley 24:47

Not by us. I tried so hard.

kat 24:51

Um, yeah.

ryley 24:52

So hard.

kat 24:52

A good try. I don't I we got our first three star review on Apple podcasts.

ryley 24:57

Someone gave us a three?

kat 24:58

Yeah

ryley 24:59

What did they say?

kat 25:00

They didn't say anything. They just left a rating.

ryley 25:02

What a coward.

kat 25:03

Coward. You know what this podcast is about.

ryley 25:06

Say it with your chest. Why did we not get five? Why did you give us three?

kat 25:09

But you know, it wasn't a one.

ryley 25:10

Right in the middle.

kat 25:11

You know, it was like

ryley 25:12

It wasn't a one.

kat 25:13

Maybe they don't just vibe.

ryley 25:14

It wasn't a one but why three?

kat 25:15

Maybe they don't vibe with us. Or it's a hater from our past, probably my past.

ryley 25:19

Might be. Probably mine. I don't know it could be mine.

kat 25:24

The next review I have is from Letterboxd. It's a two star review from December of 2018 that says, "I never thought I'd see a movie where a chubby, grinning Christian Bale sits alone in a tiny room while the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song fades in."

ryley 25:37

I love that, that is a great Letterboxd comment. It is yes.

kat 25:42

Yes. I Yes. That's all I have to say about that.

ryley 25:45

Yes.

kat 25:46

Yes. Okay, so the next review I have is a one out of 10 from IMDb titled "poorly conceived movie." From August of 2019. "This is an irresponsible juxtaposition of an unnecessary war costing many lives and comedy/feel good experience at the movie The latter overshadows the importance of the former to the viewers detriment."

ryley 26:07

Oh my, okay, I'm not gonna get into it. I'm gonna say some stuff I'm gonna regret so let's move on. Cuz oh my god that is irritating.

kat 26:14

I think it comes with the territory of making fun of a serious thing. It's like this

ryley 26:19

Yes.

kat 26:19

movie didn't didn't say those people's life's lives are being made fun of it's saying: Why the fuck would anyone send to these people to begin with? Is the thing.

ryley 26:29

Exactly. Well-

kat 26:30

Okay, so the next review I have is a two star review from January of 2019. On letterboxd that says, "Adam McKay uses freeze frames so liberally his next film will just be a slideshow with VoiceOver."

ryley 26:42

It's kind of funny. It's kind of funny.

kat 26:44

The next review I have is from Google reviews and was written eight months ago and is a one out of five and says, "the film has its moments but an effective trailer and strong performances by Bale, Rockwell, Adams and Carrell can't hide the very glaring political bias that Adam McKay is showing. Cheney is made into a Darth Vader like villain and the film draws some lazy conclusions about the complexities of the Middle East. McKay absurdly concludes that Cheney is even responsible for ISIS and in doing so mitigates them of responsibility for their own actions. His attempt at satire is overshadowed by the his Oliver Stone like pontificating. The close up heart operation scenes are bizarre and unnecessary. As a drama, it works okay but as a historical assessment of controversial vice president, it's glaring bias and apparent intention to vilify Cheney is too obvious." I think Cheney vilified himself

ryley 27:35

Was anything that Cheney did this movie not accurate?

kat 27:39

I think they're more upset at McKay making conclusions.

ryley 27:42

That they talked about it. They're upset that they talked about it brought it up

kat 27:45

Making conclusions have implications that don't have enough evidence for this person to be talked about. And that's fine. It's fine that you disagree.

ryley 27:52

It's not but let's move on.

kat 27:54

Okay, so the next one I have is a two star review from letterbox from February of 2019That says, "you know when you read a paragraph and right after you have no idea what you just read? That is what this movie is."

ryley 28:07

Um, what?

kat 28:08

It is- you said it was messy. You agreed that it was messy so I feel like that maybe that's what they mean. Like it's kind of all over the place so you don't really know what they were trying to say with the movie.

ryley 28:16

Okay, okay, I can see that okay.

kat 28:19

Next review is from Google reviews one star two years ago. "Simply amazing. The plot, the acting all top tier stuff. I got emotional multiple times throughout and watching in the theater in downtown Los Angeles is an experience I'll never forget. One-star too many white people." I mean, it's a biopic, they can't really.

ryley 28:40

I need Sorry.

kat 28:43

Okay, the next one, no stars.

ryley 28:48

I love that. I love no stars.

kat 28:50

Look at- Wait, no, not that one. Nevermind, nevermind don't look yet don't look yet.

ryley 28:53

Oh okay. Okay.

kat 28:54

Don't look yet.

ryley 28:54

Okay. Okay.

kat 28:55

Just read the one I'm on. No stars. Letterboxd, 2018. "I refuse to believe that Mary Cheney had an easier time coming out than me. And I think this film is a cowardly foray into satire. Quit handholding with VoiceOver, quit softening the bite with fleshed-out realism and stylistic sobriety, quit humanizing by way of sanitizing family life and just make your fucking movie. Push the style, push the ideas and stop being a coward. The false ending bit was a cheesy but aggressive. Give me more of that. I will add: Bale has never been more finely wrought, more nose to the ground in the details of gesture and insinuating speech patterns, than this." They literally said stop being a fucking pussy and just say what you want to say Adam.

ryley 29:38

Okay, so they're upset that they did show-

kat 29:40

That they tiptoed, yeah.

ryley 29:43

Oh. So what we were talking about earlier of like,

kat 29:44

Yeah, they think they humanized too much like they.

ryley 29:47

Okay.

kat 29:48

They think they watered everything down a little too much. They tiptoed they were like, just go for it.

ryley 29:52

All right, okay. Yeah

kat 29:54

All right.

ryley 29:54

All right, I don't mind.

kat 29:56

I don't mind. And then the next one is written by Gabriel Gundacker. On letterboxd, and is from January of 2019. And I will add this is the person who made the vine of just him over and over again saying Dick Cheney made money off the Iraq War and then himself repeating it and going Dick Cheney made money off the Iraq War. So I just think it's hilarious that he wrote a letterboxd review saying that exact thing about this movie.

ryley 30:20

I do want to ask how many times did you see that from other people while you were going through letterboxd reviews?

kat 30:25

I think because he wrote one other people didn't.

ryley 30:28

Okay.

kat 30:29

Yeah.

ryley 30:29

Cuz I can only imagine.

kat 30:30

Yeah. So the next one I have is a three and a half star review on letterbox from June 14 of 2022. So yesterday and it says in quotes, "can you breathe?" And then Dick Cheney says "I'm having a heart attack, you idiot." And then it says, "Christian Bale. That's it. That's the review."

ryley 30:46

Honestly, yes, that's that's the thing. Even the people who hated it. So Krishna build, it's really really good and he did.

kat 30:51

Yeah and he won a Golden Globe for it. The last review I have is a five star review from letterboxd and was written June 13 2022. And it says, "actually surprised this wasn't more liked on here. My favorite part is the old rotten heart of a terrible man splayed out on the operating table at the end. He was given a second chance with a new heart and chose to betray his daughter, crossing the line he swore he would never cross Terrible man. And just like the end says, I don't think he would change anything if given the chance."

ryley 31:20

Whoa.

kat 31:21

Yeah, he had a good moment. But he immediately threw away that good moment and good relationship with his daughter for that for his other daughter.

ryley 31:28

Turned on his own family.

kat 31:29

For his other daughter.

ryley 31:30

His other daughter's career.

kat 31:31

Yes. Political career.

ryley 31:33

Political, political career.

kat 31:34

Yeah.

ryley 31:35

It shows you exactly who he is. And if you didn't know by the movie, exactly who this guy was.

kat 31:40

Yeah.

ryley 31:41

Maybe that was

kat 31:42

It's like, Oh, you thought he was a good dad? Oh, oh, you thought that was the only thing he had?

ryley 31:46

Nope they took away that too.

kat 31:47

No, sorry. He's not.

ryley 31:48

He's not.

kat 31:49

Really I think I think your mind is kind of swayed a little bit since the beginning of this episode. So what do you- what do you think now?

ryley 31:55

I still really liked it. There were some interesting points brought up. But I don't know. I am still like pretty firm that this was a good movie.

kat 32:02

The biggest thing I've taken away from this like, I think it's it's a good place to start if you're just curious on what happened during the Bush administration. Like. I think that's- but I understand why some people might think it's like, unnecessary to a certain degree. But yeah, my mind hasn't really changed either. I still enjoy the movie. What would you give it out of 10?

ryley 32:21

Eight out of 10.

kat 32:22

Okay.

ryley 32:22

Really, really good. You know, like, I can't really justify why I take away two points, maybe just because what I talked about earlier, like, structurally, maybe it's not the cleanest.

kat 32:32

It's not a perfect movie, by any means.

ryley 32:34

It's not a perfect, perfect movie, but I don't have big enough complaints of like,

kat 32:38

Yeah.

ryley 32:38

Why two stars are taken away. Like, I think it's a good eight out of ten maybe even nine out of ten. But I don't know, I'm pretty frim with eight out of 10

kat 32:46

Yeah. 7.5 out of 10. That's what I'll go with.

ryley 32:50

Yeah.

kat 32:50

Yeah.

ryley 32:51

Definitely rewatchable.

kat 32:52

Oh, yeah. I'm honestly surprised that you hadn't seen it before this point.

ryley 32:55

No, I just, I tried to watch it before but for whatever reason, I only got like 10 minutes in. I don't know why.

kat 33:01

Well tell us what you think. You can reach us at our social medias at Easy Bake takes on Instagram and Tiktok. Our DMS are open on Instagram. So if you have any feedback suggestions, or just general gripes you can message us. Anyway. Thank you so much for listening. This has been Easy Bake Takes. I'm Kat

ryley 33:20

and I'm Ryley.

kat 33:21

Easy watching out there.

ryley 33:22

Bye.

kat 33:23

Bye.