I'm writing this after going out to see Adam McKay's newest film, "Vice", about the political career of former Vice President Dick Cheney. I'm still of two minds about the film and I'm less of a critic than I make myself out to be anyway, but I can say for sure that therein lies some fantastic performances. But then again, the 2008 Oliver Stone picture "W." tread some similar territory, featuring almost all of the characters from "Vice". So I thought I'd go ahead and compare the performances between the two films, solely based on accuracy. So let's get into it.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: I can't do all these tonight. I'm going to add more analyses later. Stay tuned.)
(EDITOR'S NOTE: I can't do all these tonight. I'm going to add more analyses later. Stay tuned.)
George W. Bush
Josh Brolin vs. Sam Rockwell
Let's start off with the two big roles - POTUS and Veep. Thought W. is the lead in "W.", Sam Rockwell is third-billed in "Vice" and really makes a meal out of his scenes. Rockwell bears the stronger resemblance to Bush naturally and comes even closer with the addition of lip and nose prosthetics, whereas you have to use your imagination a bit with Brolin. Similarly, though both voice impressions are quite good, Rockwell perfectly captures some of the funnier mannerisms. Now, Brolin had to humanize Bush more and fill an entire movie with his performance, so he may have had less room to really go for it in this area, but I think there's an equal chance Rockwell would've come out on top anyways. So...
Winner: Sam Rockwell
Dick Cheney
Richard Dreyfuss vs. Christian Bale
Here we've got the Vice of "Vice"'s title. Richard Dreyfuss has far less time than Bale to really impress us here, and honestly he makes a very strong impression in his relatively few scenes. Between simmering at George W. Bush's naive posturing and his venomous verbal assaults on Jeffrey Wright's Colin Powell, Dreyfuss injects enough personality to take over much of the film. And yet in most of his early scenes he sits silently in the corner. However, Christian Bale gets to fully explore the character, and even though it's not necessarily Cheney's "Greatest Hits", it gives Bale's similarly fantastic performance a greater weight. Considering the praise this performance is getting and the fact that it's the focus of it's film, you'd think this choice would be a lot easier than it is. But this one comes very close. Christian Bale still takes it, but many props to Richard Dreyfuss.
Winner: Christian Bale
Colin Powell
Jeffrey Wright vs. Tyler Perry
Wow. Who would ever think these two actors would portray the same person on the big screen? And well enough for me to compare them! Oddly enough, this is the performance that inspired me to create this post. Not one of the main two performances everyone is talking about, but Tyler Perry is clearly a better actor than I give him credit for, although he's given plenty of evidence of his acting range before (despite her flaws, he even plays Madea well). Here, he disappears into the role completely and gives a subtle and inspired performance. Jeffrey Wright, on the other hand, lends the role his deep, resonant voice which I often cream my jeans to and adds some additional gravitas to the tragedy of the character. Though Wright was a bit young to play a man in his sixties (true of most of these actors but I'm making note of it here so slag off) he still does pretty well. But I'd have to say Perry surpasses him pretty handily. Sorry Jeffrey.
Winner: Tyler Perry
Karl Rove
Toby Jones vs. Joseph Beck
Whenever I look at Toby Jones, I think "Oh, it's that funny guy from Hunger Games!" I don't really think he does anything funny in the film as far as I remember, but he was sort of funny-looking. The other "funny guy", or host, or whatever, was played by Stanley Tucci and imitated every week by Stephen Colbert last election. He had blue hair which was pretty distinctive. But Toby Jones just kind of looks funny, which might be why he got the part of Karl Rove in the first place. Joseph Beck certainly looks more like the real Rove. I believe Beck only speaks in one scene, but the performance itself is decent. But Toby Jones does better with the guy's squirrelly weirdness. So when I think of him, I really ought to recall him as the "Chief of Staff guy from W!"
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