Adam McKay’s Vice is an unconventional biopic about the life and times of Dick Cheney - but does it have an after-credits scene? Back in the 2000s, McKay became famous for directing Will Ferrell comedies like Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Step Brothers. His early films certainly had satirical elements, but it wasn’t until 2010’s The Other Guys (another Ferrell vehicle) that McKay’s projects started to become more outspoken with their political commentary. He then made The Big Short, an adaptation of Michael Lewis’ non-fiction book about the 2007-08 financial crisis that won McKay an Oscar for his writing and solidified his status as a more grounded satirist.
Now comes Vice, a movie about former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney - played by Christian Bale, who also costarred in The Big Short - that openly explores “how his policies changed the world as we know it”. Those who’ve seen The Big Short know better than to expect McKay to make a formulaic biopic about such a controversial figure. After all, he’s the same filmmaker who included a scene in The Big Short where Margot Robbie (as “herself”) breaks the fourth wall to explain financial terminology to the audience, all while taking a bubble bath and sipping a drink.
As it turns out, Vice even includes a mid-credits scene. It takes place pretty shortly after the movie’s final scene, so those who don’t have to immediately leave when the film’s over should definitely hang around for it. Those who do need to rush out once Vice is over need not worry too much; the mid-credits scene is essentially a comedic payoff to an earlier sequence in the movie that doubles as commentary about the frustrating state of political discourse in the U.S. today (and you’re forgiven if you don’t need a reminder of that, especially after watching a film about Dick Cheney).
McKay’s decision to include the scene in question during Vice’s credits makes sense, all things considered. The film itself covers some 50 years of Cheney’s life, and tries to connect the dots between the policies that he helped to enact in the White House (both before and during his time in office as VP) and the status quo in both the U.S. and the world at large. That’s more than enough for a single movie to take on - which may explain why Vice’s additional bit about modern conservatives and liberals (and those in-between) is featured during the film’s credits, instead of being incorporated into the movie proper.
Moreover, Vice’s mid-credits scene was clearly meant to be included after the rest of the film (either as its final scene or during the credits). The actual movie breaks the fourth wall several times, so it’s only fitting that its credits scene follows suit and (jokingly) comments on the film as a whole, in the way that it does. As a result, those who hang around for Vice’s credits in the theater will be treated to one final gag before they head home.
MORE: Read Screen Rant’s Vice Review
- Vice Release Date: 2018-12-25 Dick Cheney Release Date: 2018-12-25
