Vice – DVD Review

Film, Reviews

Are you sick of Cop movies where the hero cop has a dark side? If you are…stay away. Actually, that’s pretty good advice for anyone.

In this one, Michael Madsen plays a Vice cop who is part of a task force to bust a drug ring. The bust goes array when his partner mistakenly gives away that they are cops. After they shoot their way out allowing the one guy to get away, the members of the team start getting picked off one by one; and the movie slowly digresses into racism and filth and utter worthlessness. I don’t pretend to be overly racially conscious, and this movie even made me say “What the hell…” I don’t even want to count the number of times the N word gets mentioned. I really don’t even know if they were using it just as the name of the gang, or if it’s more just a general term. Seems like it actually gets used as both though.

The story is convoluted as all hell, which is on purpose. But here’s a hint for you Hollywood, when you have a “surprise” ending, don’t mention it in the synopsis on the back of the DVD. It kinda makes people watch the movie to pick up the surprise ending, and now we’re getting to the point where they have to make the movie way more convoluted to keep it hidden. It’s getting ridiculous.

And besides the convoluted story, there’s other things that just don’t freaking make any damn sense. Why the hell does Daryl Hannah spend the entire movie dressed like a 15-year-old boy? Anybody? Why? What is the point of either of the scenes with his mother? They do nothing for the emotional feel of the movie and don’t serve any purpose in moving the script along. Pointless.

And the acting isn’t even that good. Daryl Hannah is supposed to be a great actress, but she’s awful in this movie. Not only does she dress like a 15-year-old, she doesn’t do anything to make you feel anything for her character. Total phone in on her part. Michael Madsen does his normal serious, no emotion self. He hells in some situations, but for the most part, he’s even had bland throughout. What exactly is it that’s gotten him a bunch of movies recently? I mean, I liked him in that ESPN poker mini-series, but that doesn’t really transcend to the big screen.

Besides the previous paragraphs, I don’t have any problems with the movie. However, that doesn’t leave much left.

The film-making is ok. It’s got the guy from Reservoir Dogs, but it’s not as good as dogs. There are some cool shots. The opening shot on the car is pretty cool and everything works well on the shot sequence.


Vice is presented in 1.78:1 Widescreen format and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound.


There’s about a 10 minute interview sequence at the Hollywood Premier, I’ve never understood having these included. They don’t really add anything.

There are 2 5-7 minute behind the scene features, it’s cool seeing how some of the shots are set up, but for the normal viewer, it’s basically useless.

Theatrical Trailer.

There’s a music video for Torn by Sammy Allen…yeah…that’s about it.


It feels like we’ve been here before. Troubled police who can’t trust each other. It just feels stale at this point. Like a cross of The Boondock Saints and Reservoir Dogs. Not great. Definitely not great.

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Genius Products Presents Vice. Directed by Raul Sanchez Inglis. Starring Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, and Kurupt. Written by Raul Sanchez Inglis. Running time: 99 minutes. Rated R. Released on DVD: October 21th, 2008. Available at Amazon.