'Vice' director Adam McKay reveals the one scene Dick Cheney 'would have a problem with'
Vice, the new comedic Dick Cheney biopic from writer-director Adam McKay (The Big Short), doesn’t present the former vice president of the United States (as played by Christian Bale) in the most flattering light. From his years dealing with alcohol abuse (and drunk driving arrests) in Wyoming, to his calculated climb up the ranks of Capitol Hill and intent on employing unitary executive powers to the Bush administration’s adamant march into the Iraq War, this is not exactly Steven Spielberg lionizing Honest Abe in Lincoln.
Still, McKay doesn’t see Cheney taking issue with the way he’s presented onscreen in the film, which also portrays his wife, Lynne (Amy Adams), as more influential on his politics and career than we’ve previously considered her to be.
“The way we approach it, and the way these great actors approach it, was we attempted to go into the movie just showing who they are, and what they did,” McKay told Yahoo Entertainment during a recent interview (watch above), in which he was joined by Bale and Adams. “And if you look at what’s shown in the movie, there’s nothing that’s really debatable. We went to war in Iraq, Cheney lead that charge, Lynne was a very powerful force in Dick’s life.”
Added McKay: “But I’ve always said that up until the last minute of the movie, I don’t think Dick Cheney would have a problem with the movie. We were very honest and fair.”
The last minute McKay is referring to is a montage that connects the policies of the Bush administration to the presidency of Donald Trump.
Speaking of Trump, Vice releases at a time when we’ve seen an odd wave of nostalgia for the tenure of George W. Bush (played in the film by Sam Rockwell) — odd because that nostalgia is coming from not only the right but the left, who tend to look back at that administration as tame compared to the constant barrage of headlines, firings, indictments and controversies that have plagued the current presidency.
“I think what we miss, I think what it’s really saying is that we miss the days when they would at least pretend,” McKay said. “And I think W. Bush and Cheney were, for the most part, pretty good at pretending. And they still carried themselves and did the things they’re supposed to do. The current guy we have, whether you support him or not, is not pretending. He’s just doing whatever he wants to do.”
Vice opens Christmas Day.
Watch Adam McKay and Steve Carell talk about an Anchorman-Vice connection:
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