Vice: Dick Cheney biopic makes big move in Oscars race

Everyone expected Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born to sweep the Golden Globe noms, but one film emerged a surprise winner.

Christian Bale as Dick Cheney and Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney in a scene from Vice. Picture: Matt Kennedy/Annapurna Pictures

All eyes were on Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s tear-jerker A Star Is Born as the 76th annual Golden Globe nominations officially kicked off the 2019 awards season, but one film surprised critics and movie buffs alike.

Adam McKay’s Dick Cheney biopic Vice staged an undeniable awards-season coup overnight, landing a leading six nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

The scathing comedy-drama about former US President George W. Bush selecting Dick Cheney to be his running mate in 2000 won’t make its way to Australian cinemas until Boxing Day, but the surprise winner is already generating plenty of Oscars buzz.

Golden Globe nominee Christian Bale is unrecognisable as the former US vice president, while Amy Adams (Sharp Objects) earned a Supporting Actress nomination for her role as his formidable wife Lynne Cheney, and Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) nabbed one for his portrayal of George W. Bush.

Other Oscar frontrunners A Star Is Born, Green Book and The Favourite trailed close behind with five nominations each.

Christian Bale and Amy Adams both scooped Globe awards for their roles in Vice. Picture: Matt Kennedy/Annapurna Pictures

Responding to the film’s Golden Globes sweep on Thursday, McKay told AAP: “It’s a movie that’s a lot like the times we live in. There’s part of it that’s absurdist and comedic and then there’s another part of it that’s darkly tragic and dramatic.”

But, despite the often-quirky selections of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association — a collection of 88 mostly lesser-known freelance film journalists — the strong support for Vice is a surprise.

More surprisingly perhaps is the categorisation of the political film as a comedy. Early reviews have described it as “a highly critical portrait of Cheney as a power-hungry, behind-the-scenes tyrant”, and “an anti-Bush film dedicated to the apparent evil of the former Vice President”.

“I’m glad we’re in that category because we will take Mary Poppins out,” McKay said, referring to fierce competition in the musical or comedy category, in which Vice is up against Crazy Rich Asians, The Favourite, Green Book and Mary Poppins Returns, starring Emily Blunt.

“Dick Cheney is going for her,” the veteran comedy filmmaker, who once skewered politicians as a Saturday Night Live writer, joked.

Recent Globe eye-raising comedy selections include Get Out and The Martian.

Christian Bale’s extreme physical transformation in Vice is the talk of Hollywood. Picture: Matt Kennedy/Annapurna Pictures

Part of what’s generating so much hype around the film is Oscar winner Christian Bale’s extreme physical transformation. He reportedly put on more than 20 kilos to play Cheney as a “Machiavellian devil hellbent on sending American troops into battle for no good reason”, as one film critic for National Review put it.

Tyler Perry is also transformed as Colin Powell, who served as US Secretary of State during George W. Bush’s first term from 2001 to 2005. Powell was the first African-American to assume the role of Secretary of State.

Steve Carrell, who worked with McKay in The Big Short, morphs into former Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, who served under former US President Gerald Ford and later George W. Bush.

With a reported $83 million budget, McKay is confident the world is hungry for his latest political project. Australians will have to wait a few more weeks to find out what all the hype is about.

Adam McKay was nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay. Picture: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP