Vice: Film Review

Vice: Film Review

Cast: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Amy Adams, Sam Rockwell
Director: Adam McKay

Employing some of the same irreverent touches as The Big Short did in its quest to explain the financial meltdown, Vice's Golden Globe nominated biopic purports to look at the rise to power of Dick Cheney.

"Or as true as it can be," as a title card shows early on.

Cutting back and forth early on, McKay chooses to start Cheney's life off as he's arrested for a DUI on a dirt road, before moving quickly to underground in the White House as the 9/11 terror attacks take place.

It's here that Cheney's rise to power as the silent man becomes clear - he knows when to take an opportunity when it's presented.

McKay constructs a biopic which loops back and forth through Cheney's life with a vim and vigour that's initially compulsive, but ultimately settles into a degree of whiplash that keeps you engaged, but follows the non-linear approach to the story.

Bale goes method as Cheney, and ultimately settles somewhere in between his usual drawl and a Batman style growl for Cheney; but while much of his performance will be commented on because of the physicality, there's a lot going on in the eyes which gives plenty of insight into Cheney.

It has to be said McKay may let some bias against Cheney show, and there are definitely parallels drawn between worries over constitutional changes made then and potential for the current incumbent to do much the same, but Vice never loses some of the fire and outrage it's got bubbling away.

A completely irreverent credits scene 50 minutes in shows how McKay is determined to unsettle audiences, before further damning Cheney and his career choices.

Carell is impressive as Donald Rumsfeld early on, but fades into insignificance once the narrative settles on a tone. Adams impresses as Cheney's wife, proving the adage behind every man to be true, but she also brings some welcome subtlety to proceedings which ultimately end up outraging more as the film progresses.

There's a seething anger in Vice, a sign of contempt for those who ride roughshod over US politics and abuse the system to their own advantage - it's a story whose themes have been told time and time again, but McKay definitely brings his own agenda to proceedings; that's not to minimise the outrage, but when there are more restrained touches, Vice soars, even if it is aiming for awards.