Vice (2018)

Directed by: Adam McKay | 133 minutes | biography, comedy | Actors: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Alison Pill, Eddie Marsan, Justin Kirk, LisaGay Hamilton, Jesse Plemons, Bill Camp, Don McManus, Lily Rabe, Shea Whigham, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Tyler Perry

Mike Pence. Does that name mean anything to you? Then you are one of the few who knows that he is the Vice President of the United States under Donald Trump. Where Pence plays an inconspicuous role, it was different in the presidential years under George W. Bush. We all know Dick Cheney. He is considered by some to be the most powerful American politician who never made it to president. His years of experience as a Congressman, White House Chief of Staff (at 34, he was the youngest ever to hold the position) and Secretary of Defense, he became the second man behind the inexperienced Bush junior to become unprecedentedly influential. Insiders believe that behind the scenes he was the one pulling the strings and that George W. was just a straw man. He was the one who, under false pretenses, decided to start a new war against Iraq, which allowed torture methods to be allowed during the interrogations at Guantanamo Bay and further expanded the power of the White House. That is certainly the opinion of filmmaker Adam McKay. The man behind ‘The Big Short’ (2015), the film that processed the credit crisis into bite-sized chunks and which earned the writer/director the Oscar for best adapted screenplay, fits the same tropes in his political satire ‘Vice’ (2018). as in ‘The Big Short’; even now the viewer is sometimes addressed directly by the characters and certain complex terms are explained in a clear, often comical way.

In ‘Vice’ none other than Christian Bale takes on the role of Dick Cheney. We see how in his student years he drank more than he sat with his nose in a book. Yet in the years that followed he would grow into a cunning politician who refined his way to the plush. His wife Lynne (Amy Adams) is a great driver. After he was kicked out of Yale because of his drinking problem and then caught driving under the influence, she convinces him to change course. Five years later, we see him interning at the White House as an aide to Donald Rumsfeldt (Steve Carrell), one of President Nixon’s top advisers at the time. When he overhears the discussions between the president and his security adviser Henry Kissinger about a secret attack on Cambodia, he really realizes what political power is and where it lies: not so much in plain sight, but behind the scenes. It is the beginning of Cheney’s inexhaustible pursuit of power, which eventually leads him to the running mate of George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell); at the heart of world political power.

Although the events are based on true facts, it is clear that McKay looks at the events with his own left-wing glasses. In a sometimes mischievous, but sometimes also vicious way, he hints at this opinion with the alienating style elements that we know from him. For example, by using early ending credits to suggest that it would have been better for the US and the world if Cheney had retired from politics early. There is also a hilarious scene where Dick and his wife suddenly burst into Shakespearean sentences, in response to the casual, straightforward language we expect in everyday life. The role of the narrator (Jesse Plemons) also holds some surprises and McKay turns Cheney’s heart ailments into a running gag. And then we haven’t even mentioned the festive table at which Cheney and his employees hold a bacchanal where they are presented with all kinds of controversial things as if they were dishes. Restricting the rights of prisoners? Waterboarding? Kidnappings? Get everything ready! A bone-dry subject like politics (and earlier in ‘The Big Short’ therefore also the credit crisis) suddenly becomes a lot less heavy because of such an absurdist and imaginative sauce. It also underlines that McKay does not take Cheney and his lust for power and political leanings too seriously; he laughs about it. Like a farmer with a toothache, because see where Cheney’s decisions have all led.

Despite this, McKay also tries to give his central character some depth. For example, he refused to vote against same-sex marriage, out of love for his lesbian daughter Mary. The director also gives Cheney the last word to the viewer, asking the rhetorical question: what would you have done if you had been in this position? “I make no apologies for protecting your family.” Christian Bale (awarded a Golden Globe for this role) has undergone a complete transformation – ‘Vice’ was awarded the Oscar for best makeup and hair styling – and is completely unrecognizable. On paper it’s hard to play Cheney, because the best man looks and sounds duller than boring. Especially in that light Bale performs optimally here, because he equals Cheney’s colorlessness, but without becoming colorless himself. McKay also highlights Lynne’s role in the whole; it was she who managed to turn Cheney from alcoholic layabout to ambitious politician. Wanting to impress her, he went to great lengths. Like Bale, the ever-great Amy Adams earned an Oscar nomination for her role. So is Sam Rockwell, who plays a wonderfully muddled and ignorant Bush Jr. put down. There were a total of eight nominations (in addition to the aforementioned dong ‘Vice’ categories, also for best film, director, original screenplay and editing) from the Academy, plus a whole procession of other accolades. Justly? Yes, because despite the sometimes oversimplified and subjective view that McKay here gives one of the most important American politicians of recent decades, with ‘Vice’ he manages to convey a dusty theme and a dusty main character in a refreshing way.