In the absurdist, satirical biopic, Bale sometimes seems to be neglecting other actors in order to show us the former VP’s every tic.
Imagine a no-credits screening of “Vice” for 100 people who had no idea who was playing Dick Cheney in this political satire.
I wonder how many would figure out it’s Christian Bale — tall, chiseled-cheekboned, lean, British Christian Bale — expertly capturing the look and the mannerisms and the speech patterns of the short, paunchy, balding, spectacles-wearing American politician, business exec and master manipulator.
As we’ve long known, Bale is an enormously talented Method actor who relishes the opportunity to transform himself in the name of the performance. Whether it’s dropping an alarming amount of weight or beefing up or perfecting a dialect or disappearing under wigs and facial hair and prosthetics, he’ll do whatever it takes to become the character.
In Adam McKay’s free-ranging, tone-shifting, darkly funny, super-meta, hit-and-miss, absurdist biopic “Vice,” Bale nails it as the resilient, backstabbing, front-stabbing, ruthlessly ambitious Cheney. He looks like Cheney, he talks like Cheney, he walks like Cheney and he IS Cheney.
That would be perfect for a recurring role on “Saturday Night Live” circa 2004, but in a feature-length film, Bale’s performance often comes across as more of an impersonation than a fully realized performance. He’s so dedicated to mimicking every last tic and idiosyncrasy, there are times when it feels like he’s playing to the audience instead of genuinely interacting with other people in the room.
There are also times when Bale is absolutely brilliant and hilarious and stunningly effective. Like the film itself, the performance is sometimes great and sometimes so deliberately outlandish, it feels like an Oliver Stone Lite production.
Writer-director McKay, who struck comedic gold with classic Will Ferrell vehicles such as “Anchorman” and “Talladega Nights” and then elevated his game with “The Big Short” (winning the Academy Award along with his co-writer for best adapted screenplay), doubles down on the flights of fancy and stylized storytelling devices he employed in the latter film.
