Vice

With all the imagination of storytellers, script writers and authors the greatest villains are often facsimiles of real life figures. And sometimes real life figures are the worst villains of all.

Vice tells the story of Dick Cheney, one such figure of villainy. The silent, calculated force behind the Bush administration and a man with a lot of blood on his many pie-dipped fingers.

Of course, this is a left-leaning film keen to vilify this heretofore lesser known individual but some of the information on offer here is downright sickening. Much like Adam McKay’s previous offering: The Big Short, this is enough to thoroughly reduce your faith in humanity.

The fact that the mastermind behind Anchorman is now making searing and scathing political commentary of this sort is something in itself and it’s testament to McKay’s prowess as a filmmaker that he can flit seamlessly between the realms of comedy and historical fact. He’s attracted friends and followers in high places too with both Brad Pitt and Will Ferrell listed as producers here although unfortunately neither pop up in a cameo.

No matter though as McKay brings back Christian Bale after his previous film and pulls an extraordinary performance from an actor hardly short of standout performances. He is a true force of nature here and quite literally becomes Dick Cheney, adopting a little of his Batman voice to replicate Cheney’s gruff monotone. He is simply staggering and even stands out amongst exalted company in the Oscar’s Best Actor category.

He’s matched by the rest of McKay’s brilliant casting: Amy Adams is sharp as a knife as Lynne Cheney, Steve Carrell seamlessly slots into the political landscape which speaks volumes to his skill and craft and Sam Rockwell doesn’t get a huge amount of screen time as George W but is quite the likeness.

Around these characters swirls a back and forth narrative imbued with cutaways to real life footage, seamlessly blended with the drama, comedy touches and visual metaphors like those in The Big Short, stirring the senses in ways that no biopic has done before. It’s miles ahead of standard, chronological fare and, for this writer, sits on the high table of historical biopics with Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs.

It’s a brilliantly original piece. Cheney’s political machinations are interesting enough to withstand a beige backroom drama but, instead, McKay uses standout scenes to explain some of his standout decisions. One particular sequence using a restaurant waiter as a descriptor for policy changes Cheney made whilst in office is fantastic.

It’s sure to stir up controversy and presents McKay as a somewhat anarchist filmmaker. It’s a visceral indictment of our past failings and a somewhat loaded warning to the current generation.

A virtuoso bit of filmmaking from a Director whose films are slowly becoming unmissable.

5 stars *****