Vice review – Dick Cheney deserves better

As a South African, it would be a distinct advantage to understand the complexities of the American political scene to fully comprehend Adam McKay’s Vice.

It’s not an easily accessible movie and cinemagoers may be confused by its narrative.

This is the controversial story of Vice-President Dick Cheney in the George W Bush administration. While it offers much sound and fury, it doesn’t mean anything at the end. It’s too sketchy and episodic.

However, one cannot fault the enormous contribution made by an unrecognisable Christian Bale in the title role.

Vice has received a number of Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Bale, Best Supporting Actor for Sam Rockwell and Best Supporting Actress for Amy Adams.

Christian Bale and Amy Adams in Vice. Photo: Annapurna Pictures

Vice has an interesting story to tell about the man who helped shape the current state of America.

McKay’s production, however, doesn’t do it justice. It is without any form of insight, originality or force, merely skimming the surface of history and offering little new information on the subject. It’s like listening to a dull, one-sided lecture.

Instead of cutting to the most important aspects of Cheney’s work at the White House, the movie wastes time developing the man’s character.

It takes in his early, drunken years and his time spent in the Nixon administration. The picture McKay paints is of a man who believes he can turn a useless position in government to his advantage and become someone important.

Despite his dubious politics and suspect moral centre, Cheney knew how to take his opportunities.

Christian Bale in Vice. Photo: Annapurna Pictures

The tone of the movie is glib and mocking.

There is a narrator, a mysterious character named Kurt (Jesse Plemons), a fictitious veteran of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, who tries to frame the events that unfold. What he says is mostly puzzling. Revealing a true story in a clever way is not the same as delivering a historical commentary. Making references is not creating drama.

Oscar nominee Adams is wasted as Cheney’s wife Lynne, as it’s a part she can execute in her sleep. Rockwell as George W Bush, and Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld, fare much better, often stealing their individual scenes.

Rockwell refuses to go with the idiotic version often seen of Bush. Carell doesn’t try to do an impression of the former secretary of defence but manages to create a more cynical vision of Rumsfeld.

Donald Cheney cut a towering figure in American politics. He helped shape the entire world and America’s role in it after 9/11. He certainly deserves a more potent, less toothless, biopic to remember him by.

Steve Carell in Vice. Photo: Annapurna Pictures

Info

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Cast: Christian Bale, Sam Rockwell, Amy Adams, Steve Carell
Director: Adam McKay
Classification: 16 DLPV

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