Review | Vice film review: Christian Bale plays Dick Cheney as an immoral opportunist in dark biopic about former American vice-president

4/5 stars

Vice approaches a dark period of American history – and a dark horse of a character – in a witty and irreverent way. The biopic of former Republican vice-president Dick Cheney, who was reviled even more than his boss president George W. Bush, covers the full span of the 78-year-old’s life. The film focuses on the oft-held view that it was he, rather than Bush, who was running the administration.

While this perception may have more to do with popular myth than political reality, it’s still an insightful film which shows how some of the legal work Cheney ordered opened the door to Donald Trump’s imperious style of government.

Director Adam McKay ( The Big Short ) has fun playing with montage, flashbacks, and even some fictional characters, to keep the story motoring along. Cheney is presented as an opportunist and a scuzzball who had no moral principles. His sole aim is to gain as much power for himself as he can, and he’s constantly meddling with the political system to ensure he achieves his goals.

Vice begins with Cheney as a college drop-out, and then a lineworker, maintaining power lines. After a telling-off by his wife Lynne (Amy Adams), Cheney (Christian Bale) moves into politics and meets up with the experienced Nixon adviser, and later secretary for defence, Donald Rumsfeld (played kookily by Steve Carell).

Together, the two advance the idea of unitary executive power, a legal position which means that the president can do nothing wrong, simply because he’s the president. When George W. Bush becomes president, Cheney realises that he can manipulate Bush, who he considers a fool, and govern the country through him. The chaos that follows the September 11 attacks offers him more opportunities to do so.