Vice **** (2018, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell) – Movie Review

Vice is a tremendous movie on fighting form. Bale brilliant.

Writer-director Adam McKay 2018 biopic Vice is a truly tremendous movie on best fighting form, with Christian Bale absolutely brilliant in his Golden Globe-winning performance as Washington insider Dick Cheney, who wielded immense power behind the scenes as Vice President to George W Bush, permanently reshaping the way of the world, er for the worse, that is, apparently.

Both as writer and director McKay gets his teeth in there and just won’t let go. The movie starts and it never seems to want to stop even after its 132 riveting minutes. It is more about left-wing politics than comedy, but boy do we need this now. McKay is essentially about comedy, so if this is a lesson in politics or a political tract, it is a hellishly funny one.

Bale is unrecognisable as Cheney in astounding make-up that makes him look just like Cheney. But this is a real acting performance, not a prosthetic, caricature turn like Gary Oldman’s Churchill in Darkest Hour. Admiration for Bale and McKay must run extremely high, and Sam Rockwell is tremendous too as George W Bush in a very funny turn. Amy Adams and Steve Carell are very solid as Dick’s ruthlessly ambitious wife Lynne Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, whom Cheney uses ruthlessly on his way to the top.

It may be remembered that Rumsfeld served as US Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under Gerald Ford, and again from 2001 to 2006 under George W Bush. Of course, it may quite well not be remembered, especially in the UK, where the appetite for American politics is considerably less than in the US. It is a mark of the brilliance of the film that that does not affect the movie’s fascination and appeal.

Christian Bale won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Vice was nominated for six Golden Globes, including Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Amy Adams), Best Supporting Actor (Sam Rockwell) and Best Motion Picture. Bale was nominated as Actor of the Year and British/Irish Actor of the Year at The London Critics Circle Film Awards 2019.

Vice was nominated for eight Oscars, and won just one: Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling (Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe, Patricia Dehaney).

McKay (born April 17, 1968) is an American screenwriter, director, comedian and actor in a comedy partnership with Will Ferrell, with whom he co-wrote Anchorman, Talladega Nights and The Other Guys. His last film was The Big Short (2015) with Bale and Carell. This is the answer to the otherwise totally perplexing question of why anyone would think of hiring Bale to play Cheney.

After a try-out in Los Angeles on 12 December 2018, it was ironically the Christmas Day treat in the US, but its release in the UK is 25 January 2019.

Sadly, Adam McKay’s Vice was at least a $15 million bomb.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Movie Review

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