(From IMDb.com)

Vice is about power.

In every nook and cranny.

The docu-drama directed and written by Adam McKay puts forth the still-eye-opening story of one crusty politician who rose from a self-loathing loser who lost his job and was on the verge of seeing his wife and family say adios as well rise to the chair one breath away from leader of the free world.

Christian Bale oh-so-convincingly plays Dick Cheney with the full range of both the simplicities and complexities needed to be a player in Washington, D.C. who could win over the heart and mind of George W. Bush to earn the position of Vice President and convince all sorts of cabinet members and consultants to do just what he wants them to do in the name of the United States of America.

Sam Rockwell thrives as the somewhat confused Second George Bush, and Amy Adams flourishes as the woman who indeed pushes many of her husband’s buttons. But the second-in-command in interest on the screen in many of this film’s 2 hours, 12 minutes is Steve Carell, who turns himself into the squirrelly Donald Rumsfeld, always eager to draw lines in the sand and concoct plans of action here as he rises and falls in eyes and minds of administrators high and low.

Of course followers of history all know what happened with these White House plans.

In love with country and themselves. (From IMDb.com)

That doesn’t mean the reminder dramatized by good, old-fashioned acting isn’t a worthwhile reminder.