Just in time before the big show tonight, here are a few thoughts on the final BP nominee this year, Vice. Honestly, the last thing I wanted to do this weekend was trek to a nearby theater and sit through two plus hours of more political rhetoric, but I found myself surprisingly engrossed by Vice. The acting is very good–Christian Bale’s transformation into Dick Cheney is shockingly amazing. The writing is quite clever–who would think plugging a Shakespearean dialogue into a story about modern politics would actually work! And, the storyline is interesting–if not completely accurate.
That’s the biggest issue I (among many others) have with Vice: Who knows what’s true and what’s not true with this film. Nearly all the BP nominees this year chronicle actual events (to some extent); and in my mind, if a film claims to be based on a real story, then it should attempt to portray what really happened, not make stuff up to please a particular demographic or make a political statement. Well, Vice has plenty to say about the George W. Bush administration and Cheney’s role in it, and it uses that historical setting to comment (negatively, of course) on our current political situation under President Trump. Suffice it to say that no Republicans or conservatives look real good in this film. They are shown to be bumbling idiots most of the time, and they’re blamed for everything from using 9/11 as an avenue to gain power both home and abroad to creating ISIS. The funny thing about Vice is that, while most of the historical people it portrays are still living, none of them are noted in the film’s credits for contributing to the making of Vice. This isn’t very shocking considering the pro-liberal/Democrat bent of the movie, but it also certainly doesn’t give the film any credibility as far as its storytelling goes. For all intents and purposes, then, Vice becomes a completely fictional film that just uses the names of real people. Had its makers put in more effort to ensure the truth of its tale, the significance of the contribution Vice makes to history, to pop culture, and to this year’s Oscar competition would have been vastly increased.
Why This Film Might Win BP:
I think Vice is out of its league as a BP contender this year; however, it is witty, and it does make brilliant use of a couple of metaphors: fishing and the human heart. I won’t give anything away here, but this film also has the best plot twist out of all the BP nominees–the entire theater I was in actually jumped and gasped at the same time, which was pretty entertaining. Despite it being a long shot for BP, I think Vice has a good chance of taking home some of the other awards tonight, including Film Editing and Writing (Original Screenplay). And maybe that is enough for such a far-fetched film as this one.
Why This Film Might Not Win BP:
Like A Star Is Born, Vice doesn’t have the track record of big wins at other high-profile awards shows this year necessary to make it as much of a contender as some of the other BP nominees. Even with its strong acting and creative script, Academy voters will probably shy away from this political merry-go-round and choose something a little more meaningful (like Roma or Green Book).
My Final BP Nominee Rankings:
I’m positive that the Academy won’t agree with me here; but if I had to rank this year’s BP nominees, they would shake out like this:
- Green Book
- Bohemian Rhapsody
- Roma
- BlackkKlansman
- Vice
- Black Panther
- A Star Is Born
- The Favourite