Christian Bale plays Cheney and he’s stunningly good… and VERY convincing (yet another Oscar contender). Actually, all the main characters were excellent (Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney; Steve Carell as Rumsfeld; Sam Rockwell as Bush).
It purports to be fact rather than fiction. Indeed, at the very start of the film, we’re told:
“The following is a true story. Or as true as it can be given that Dick Cheney is known as one of the most secretive leaders in recent history. But we did our f**king best”!
Cheney went from being Secretary of Defence, to White House Chief of Staff, to a CEO of energy giant Halliburton, and finally to George W Bush’s second in command – although, in the film at least, Cheney seems to pull ALL the strings.
I really
didn’t know what to expect from the film… knowing the political history, I was
pretty sure it would make me angry (which it did)… but I hadn’t realised that
it would also be quite hilarious at times (I know!). There’s almost an element
of a Michael Moore film (with its various voice-overs) in the way it’s
presented. I found it incredibly scary to realise (if the film is anywhere near
accurate) just how much power Cheney had and how he was able to wield it in the
White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives and how corporations were
mobilised through influential thinktanks such as the Heritage Foundation and
the Cato Institute. I’ve read an interview with the director, Adam McKay, in
which he describes Cheney, alongside Donald Rumsfeld, as having orchestrated a “rightwing
stealth-revolution that ushered in a sustained era of Republican power and
idealism” in the late 1970s… with President Reagan claiming that “true individuals
don’t need government” and proposing tax breaks for billionaires(?). For me, it
was a reminder of the depressing Thatcher Days in the UK in the early 1980s.
Cheney
clearly had enormous political power… quiet, focused, deliberate, secretive
and, to my mind, incredibly sinister. After all the controversy three years ago
about Hillary Clinton using her family's private email server for official
communications rather than using official State Department email accounts, I
thought it was telling that McKay’s film ended with a list of frightening ‘facts’
that had emerged about Cheney’s Vice President office – including the THOUSANDS
of emails that were destroyed in violation of the requirements of the federal
records act!
In some
ways, I felt that the film was made for the likes of me… someone with ‘liberal
principles’(?) who had lived through the Reagan days – as well, obviously, the
Twin Towers and the Iraq War – confirming my prejudices perhaps? American
Republicans will no doubt dislike McKay’s interpretation of events – even they
love Bale’s performance. For me, depressingly, the way matters were hidden or manipulated
by Cheney and his entourage echoed much of what I suspect is still happening in
the world of politics today – both in the USA and in the UK.
Did I enjoy the film? Well yes I did.
I found it both captivating and entertaining (and somewhat frightening) –
although, at times, I found the biopic style and voice-overs a little off-putting.
But definitely worthwhile seeing, especially for Christian Bale's performance.
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