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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Friday 21 december 2018
'Vice' is exhausting, but Bale's something to behold

By JOCELYN NOVECK committed liberal to enjoy
Associated Press "Vice." You can simply be
Blow your nose, and you'll an admirer of committed
miss the split-second shot acting, the sort that Bale
of a younger Donald Trump specializes in.
in "Vice," Adam McKay's Yes, the actor famously
exhaustingly entertain- gained a lot of weight, and
ing (and entertainingly mastered that way Cheney
exhausting) Dick Cheney speaks from the side of his
movie. mouth. (There's also amaz-
But make no mistake: the ing makeup work here.)
filmmaker wants us to be Alone, these would be gim-
thinking about Trump. What micks, but Bale also disap-
he's telling us — implicitly, pears so deeply into his
then more obviously — is balding, portly, pasty char-
that if you're upset today acter that for long minutes
about what you might see you forget it's him.
as, say, a brazen executive- As for Adams, her Lynne
branch power grab, well, is bright, witty and gritty,
that already happened a woman one imagines
— and pretty recently. It's might have become a
just that we didn't really top politician herself had
notice because, McKay ar- This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Christian Bale as Dick Cheney, left, and Amy she been born a few de-
gues, Dick Cheney did it so Adams as Lynne Cheney in a scene from "Vice." cades later. Sam Rockwell
darned quietly. Associated Press has less screen time, but
Let's pause a moment to delivers a hilarious impres-
note the obvious: "Vice," the 2008 financial collapse. utes. Macbeth much? he was able to climb so sion of George W. Bush, all
which features a terrifically These devices include bro- The parallels with the Scot- fast, McKay argues: He sim- folksy and jokesy. "Wanna
committed performance ken fourth walls, surreal vi- tish play are obvious: McK- ply saw opportunities and jump on board?" he asks
by Christian Bale, is not a gnettes, fun celebrity cam- ay presents Lynne (Amy took them. Cheney about the VP job.
neutral biopic in any sense. eos, a mysterious narrator, Adams, memorable as al- The weakness here, though, "Let's go, c'mon now!" Is it
It's more of a political lec- and — best of all — Dick ways) as the ideological is that we never get a sense fair to portray Bush as such
ture on steroids, using every and Lynne Cheney in the force behind the man, her of what truly drives Cheney a man-child, motivated by
clever filmmaking device bedroom, plotting his next husband's private coach in the man. The shiny bells pleasing his father, and so
up the talented McKay's political move, suddenly every step he takes on the and whistles that McKay uninvolved in decisions?
sleeve, much like "The Big launching into iambic pen- way to becoming a virtual employs — because, well, Perhaps not, but Rockwell
Short," his journey through tameter for several min- co-president and perhaps he's good at it — detract is sure entertaining.
the most powerful man on from our ability to get to We first meet Cheney in
the planet. know his subject. Is McKay's 1963, staggering blind
But while Macbeth be- Cheney merely an oppor- drunk from a car during a
comes wracked with guilt tunist, or is he fueled by a traffic stop. Fast forward
and paranoia, "Vice" deeper purpose, and how? to 9/11, and he's the guy
chronicles a man with no It's not totally clear. taking charge of the na-
guilt or doubt whatsoever, Although Cheney fans will tion's response, with Bush
and that matter-of-fact likely not find much to ap- nowhere in sight. How did
certainty of purpose was preciate here, that doesn't we get from A to B, McKay
indeed one of the reasons mean you need be a is asking?q

Peter Masterson, actor, writer and

filmmaker, dead at 84

Associated Press New York.
NEW YORK (AP) — Peter Born Carlos Masterson, but
Masterson, the playwright, known as Peter because
filmmaker and actor whose his father preferred that
credits ranged from co- name, Masterson often
writing the Tony-winning worked with family mem-
musical "The Best Little bers. His cousin was play-
Whorehouse in Texas" to wright Horton Foote, who
directing the movie adap- wrote the stage version of
tation of "The Trip to Bounti- "The Trip to Bountiful." His
ful," has died. wife, Carlin Glynn, won a
Masterson's son, also called Tony for "Best Little Whore-
Peter, says his father died house." His daughter, Mary
Tuesday from complica- Stuart Masterson, made her
This undated image shows
playwright, filmmaker and tions from Parkinson's dis- film debut in "The Stepford
actor Peter Masterson. ease. He was 84 and died Wives," in which he starred
Associated Press at his home in Kinderhook, as her father.q