DICK DASTARDLY
Christian Bale deserves the plaudits for his turn as George W. Bush’s Machiavellian Vice President, but the film’s jokey tone undercuts his efforts
SEX, drugs and rock ’n’ roll are noticeably absent from this amusing and self-aware biopic of US political mastermind and ex-Vice President Dick Cheney. Former Batman star Christian Bale charts Cheney’s rise to power with a restrained and masterful glower while being barely recognisable as the balding, fat and aged politician.
It’s a terrific performance for which the British actor deservedly won the Golden Globe for best actor and has been nominated for the equivalent BAFTA and Oscar.
Meanwhile, the Oscarnominated Amy Adams is breathtakingly fierce as his wife Lynne, whose ferocious drive and thwarted ambition is held responsible for providing the thrust for Cheney’s ascent.
He’s presented as a ruthless, unrepentant and amoral patriot, obsessed with power, and is the real force in the White House during the tenure of President George W. Bush.
Bush is played by Sam Rockwell, who kicks back, plays dim and suffers daddy issues. Meanwhile, Steve Carell enjoys himself as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
Written and directed by Adam McKay, this is a companion piece to his Oscar-winning 2015 hit, The Big Short, which was a comic and condemnatory look at those responsible for the financial crash.
McKay adopts a similar approach here, mixing dramatic recreations and news footage with a gift for explaining complex legal matters through easily digestible scenes.
But there is nothing new or revelatory here, and regurgitating known events is not the same as creating a drama.
Also, the enjoyably jokey tone undermines an interesting attempt to pitch Cheney’s life as a Shakespearean tragedy.
And having explained at length how Cheney creates the conditions which offered the possibility of a Trump presidency, McKay then hectors us for our stupidity in letting it happen.
Although well informed and diverting, actors aside, Vice is too undemanding to be deserving of eight Oscar nominations.