VICE – Review

Christian Bale as Dick Cheney in Adam McKay’s VICE, an Annapurna Pictures release. Photo credit : Matt Kennedy / Annapurna Pictures. 2018 © Annapurna Pictures, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Adam McKay, who brought us THE BIG SHORT, takes on Dick Chaney in the hilariously satiric biopic VICE. The writer/director who made credit default swaps both funny and understandable brings those sharp comic skills to this boldly inventive and pointed examination of career of the former vice president. If you are a fan of former Vice President Cheney, VICE might not be for you, as the humor leans a bit snarky. But for this rest of us, VICE is flat-out hilarious.

As funny as it is, the facts in VICE are accurate, even if McKay presents them in a comic way. McKay brings the same high level of thorough research he brought to THE BIG SHORT to this smart subversive comedy. VICE covers some of the same time period as the George W. Bush biopic drama W, but this film is definitely comedy, with broad humor mixed with the satire.

We first meet Dick Cheney (Christian Bale) in Wyoming, as a young man with a drinking problem and a dim future. Well, dim until future wife Lynne (Amy Adams) gives him a “shape up” dressing down that serves as a wake-up call. We follow Cheney’s evolution as a behind-the-scenes political force from his days as an Congressional intern for his mentor Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carell) to the present, and we watch him evolve through out. There is a particularly telling scene, where the eager young Cheney, trying to figure out the political strategy, asks his mentor Rumsfeld “what do we believe?” which releases chilling, cackling laughter from Rummy.

The film is narrated by Jesse Plemons, as an ordinary working man whose connection to Cheney becomes clear late in the film. Sam Rockwell plays George W. Bush, Eddie Marsan appears as Paul Wolfowitz, Tyler Perry plays Colin Powell, and other stars pop up throughout.

VICE is on lots of critics’ top ten lists already, and one reason is Christian Bale’s performance as Dick Cheney. Bale, who is leading many lists for a Best Actor Oscar nomination, gained 40 pounds for the role and is virtually unrecognizable. Especially later in the film, as the older Cheney, the resemblance is striking, with Bale mimicking Cheney’s mannerisms and posture with uncanny accuracy, making is easy to forget that is not Dick Cheney himself on screen.

This is no glowing, affectionate portrait of Cheney by any means but McKay treats the former “Vice” fairly and accurately, including honestly showing Cheney’s devotion to his family, as well as his calculated rise as a behind-the-scenes force in politics and government. The person who really comes across as unrelentingly unsavory in this film is Rumsfeld.

The film as a whole does a great job on both casting and make-up, worthy of an Oscar there as well. Steve Carell as wholly convincing as Donald Rumsfeld, as is Sam Rockwell as Dubya. Amy Adams is ruthless and fierce as Lynne Cheney, and the driving force behind her husband’s ambitions and career, echoing the political partnership in “House of Cards.” Among the most striking transformations is Tyler Perry, as Colin Powell. Lisagay Hamilton, who plays Condoleezza Rice, looks so much like the former Secretary of State, that one might do a double-take, thinking that is the real Condie in those scenes.

One example of VICE’s clever comic presentation of facts is the “menu scene,” which takes place after the start of the Iraq War. We see Rumsfeld, Cheney and Wolfowitz in a fancy restaurant where the waiter (played by Alfred Molina) is describing the menu, with choices like “enhanced interrogation” and “Guantanamo Bay.” Another laugh-out-loud moment is when Dick and Lynne Cheney are considering Bush’s offer of the vice presidency, and narrator Jesse Plemons intones “we can’t just switch to a Shakespearean soliloquy” but then the film kinda does, with the couple in bed seeming to recite a scene from “Macbeth.”

There are plentiful other comic gems in this bitingly funny film. The film slyly uses a fly fishing theme throughout, tying (get it? flying tying? sorry, couldn’t resist) in with Wyoming, which fly fishermen know is trout fishing heaven. Fly fishing references are abundant, everything from casting to hooking a trout, with a particularly good scene where Cheney is talking to presidential candidate Dubya about the vice presidency. Remarkably creative fishing flies – tied in the shape of bombs or the World Trade Center twin towers – are shown with the closing credits.

VICE seems a sure thing for Oscar nominations, particularly for Christian Bale’s breathtaking performance and its clever script. Highly entertaining as well as as impressively inventive, VICE is definitely a must-see film, and one of this year’s best.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars