Vice (2018)

Since his directorial debut with Anchorman back in 2004, Adam McKay’s transformation into one of Hollywood’s most celebrated and interesting political filmmakers is truly remarkable. After achieving huge success with The Big Short in 2015, most directors would have perhaps opted to play it safe with their next project but instead McKay sets himself an even bigger challenge, bringing us his most ambitious film to date ‘Vice’.

This new feature explores the life of one of America’s most mysterious political beasts, former Vice President Dick Cheney. A man who is well-known for giving little away and who is commonly referred to as the most powerful Vice President in US history.

Vice explores Cheney’s life in two parts; first exploring his elongated rise to the Vice Presidency and then looking at his time in office. We first see Cheney (Christian Bale) as a beer drinking college drop out with little prospects ahead of him, but with the help of his wife Lynne (Amy Adams) he turns his life around. Going on to become an assistant to Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carrell), where he gains a glimpse into the corridors of power. From there, Cheney becomes the White House chief of staff, then a Congressmen. Before “giving up politics for good” to become the CEO of an Oil Company, and then finally a Vice President for George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell). Yet Cheney is no ordinary VP, making most of the decisions and influencing much of Bush’s policies from the shadows.

Yet, like any film of a political nature, especially one like Vice that deals with a range of complex ideas such “Unitary Executive Theory”, there can be a lot of information for viewers to get their head round. This is exactly where McKay thrives, taking somewhat dense topics and presenting them in an accessible way, with a pinch of satire.

Just like in The Big Short, McKay deploys his ever reliable flashy and contemporary style of satire, thinking outside the box as always. With lots of fourth wall breaking, fantasy sequences, ironic voiceovers and lots of fishing metaphors. Perhaps the best example of this working in the film is when Mr and Mrs Cheney, address one another in full Shakespearean verse as the Macbeths.

Yet, while this flashy style of satire works so well in some of McKay’s previous work it doesn’t always land well in Vice. Often distrusting the flow of the narrative and pulling you out of the drama at times. This becomes more evident as the film goes on, especially in the third act with it beginning to feel at times as if you’re watching a Roger Moore documentary. Not that there is anything wrong with that sort of filmmaking but in Vice it comes across like McKay can’t settle on a tone.

While the films structure is somewhat questionable, the performances are not. As they often say in the business, “90% of directing is casting” and boy oh boy does McKay get the casting right. With Christian Bale at the helm we were always going to be in safe hands but his performance in Vice is truly remarkable. In fact, it’s hard to tell its Bale at all with him being hidden under vast amounts of makeup and prosthetic. He looks unrecognisable. It is not just the body transformation that makes Bale’s portrayal of Cheney so brilliant. It’s his overall demeanor, the way he pauses, the way he growls. In Vice, Bale doesn’t just play Dick Cheney, he becomes Dick Cheney.

Amy Adams is also brilliant in the supporting role as Lynne Cheney and helps provide a compelling look in to the Cheney’s home life, she is often our eyes into her husband’s true character. Sam Rockwell as President Bush is also worth mentioning, providing us with much hilarity, it’s as good an imitation as you’ll see. The ever-reliable Steve Carrell also features heavily in Vice as Donald Rumsfeld, striking up a good balance between comedy and seriousness.

As outstanding as these performances are, they fail to rescue Vice from its narrative limitations. While McKay successfully brings us a film that is fresh, interesting and fun to watch, you can’t help but feel like there is something missing from Vice. It fails to land the killer blow it is so desperately crying out for.