DOUBLE FEATURE 10.30.20
Vice + Charlie Wilson's War
The current state of politics in the United States is no laughing matter. With the presidential election just days away, our polarized nation has never had so much at stake. Aside from Alec Baldwin’s mocking portrayal of President Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live, it’s hard to imagine how filmmakers and writers will find any humor in the last (and potentially next) four years. For some relief, PROVOKR suggests checking out this pair of political satires that manage to make light of some recent difficult times.
Ever thought you’d see America’s Sweetheart, aka Tom Hanks, partying in a hot tub with strippers and boozing it up from dawn till dusk like an ad exec in Mad Men? How about taking down the Soviet Union while he’s at it? Charlie Wilson’s War is all this and more in Mike Nichols’s final film. Hanks plays the real-life Texas congressman who, along with CIA operative Gust Avrakotos, spearheaded one of the most significant covert operations in U.S. history. It also led to the end of the Cold War. With a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin and a cast including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julia Roberts, and Amy Adams, the film, set in the late 1980s, is laden with star power on every level. While it tackles a heavy subject, the tone is light and often funny. Nichols was one of the greatest actor’s directors in the history of the medium, and the performances he drew from Hanks and the rest of the cast in this underrated gem is a firm reminder of why.
In his most shape-shifting performance to date, Christian Bale embodies former Vice President Cheney in Vice so thoroughly that you will forget that one of the most recognizable actors in the world lurks underneath the makeup. Adam McKay’s no-holds-barred send-up of the most potent and unpopular vice president in our history takes frequent and extreme liberties with the truth. The exaggeration and embellishment of an extraordinarily dark reality may have been necessary to establish safe comedic distance from the subject to satirize him. Bale’s mesmerizing performance alone is worth the price of admission. Still, the supporting cast, including Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush, Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld and, again, Amy Adams, as Lynne Cheney, help make Vice as much an ensemble film as it is a vehicle for its superb leading man.
