10 Films That Brilliantly Nailed Topical Issues
5. Vice
The world we live in now is as divided as it has been for a long time, with the ability to take an even handed look at any situation seemingly gone. This is all the more noticeable in the USA, where the Bush/Trump faction can seemingly agree on nothing with the Obama/Bernie brigade. And then of course there are those who are happy to live life in blissful ignorance of this ideological divide.
Vice's brilliant analysis of this divide is present throughout the film, its extreme left leaning and demonising of former Vice President Dick Cheney inherently biased, if still scarily accurate. Director Adam McKay is more than happy to acknowledge his film's one sided portrayal of Cheney in a post credit sequence that makes you view the film in a whole new light.
The movie breaks the fourth wall by returning to a fictitious focus group utilised earlier in the film, with a right leaning member aggressively attacking the film Vice as leftist propaganda. A slanging match of insults ensues with a left leaning member of the focus group, which soon turns into a physical altercation. Meanwhile two young women sit quietly in the foreground, before one of them comments how much she is looking forward to the new Fast & Furious film.
The ability to critique bias present in our media and explain its shortcomings is an art many have excelled in. But the ability to self critique one's own biases is something that McKay brilliantly introduces here and hopefully is a trend that continues in the future.