The process under scrutiny is called hydraulic fracturing and it involves pumping a concoction of highly carcinogenic chemicals into the ground in a process that helps free the natural gas. Almost all of the poor people that live around these sites are experiencing the horrors that go along with exposure to toxic wastes. This point is brought home most vividly by a number of homeowners who after years of fine well-sourced drinking water can now (post drilling) actually light their tap water on fire.

As is the case in many of these cautionary tales, the start of all these troubles leads back to basic greed and a US government willing to change long standing laws to accommodate the business interests of a few. In this case it appears to be ex-vice president Dick Chaney and that behemoth business Halliburton (of which he was a former CEO). That company appears to benefit the most by supplying the majority of the technology and equipment for the drilling process. It is also interesting that some of the rational for allowing this dangerous practise to take place is under the guise of helping to prevent domestic terrorism by reducing dependence on foreign oil.

As a story it’s quite depressing and filmmaker Josh Fox offers little in the way of solutions or even hope. His mostly humour-free style adds effectiveness to the story but makes for a bit of a tough slough. He also relies on poorly lit scenes with bad focusing to give it that believably non-corporate air. The film also lacks some basic science to give the story a more balanced view. But even with these shortcomings, it’s a film that all the residents of Queensland in particular and Australians in general should see.

Rob Hudson
www.palacefilms.com.au

The film is both wildly inventive and unafraid to take its audience members into some very dark places. It follows Chaney from his blue collar beginnings to his place on the highest rungs of power. With stops along the way for three heart attacks, an accidental shooting of a 78 year old Texas attorney while quail hunting and the reciting of Shakespeare before shagging his wife Lynne played with a power hungry intensity by Amy Adams.

Those moments and many more are presented with a tongue-in-cheek approach. This includes a first set of closing credits midway through the film, a voiceover subject whose place in Chaney’s life is only revealed at film’s end and a unflinching view of an open heart surgery. Throughout McKay has great fun defying the conventions of the cinema.

Vice is a film that shows the naked truth of blind ambition and the depths some people will go to acquire power and material wealth. It also puts in focus how broken the American system of politics actually is. Thankfully it will make you laugh to keep you from crying in despair.

Rob Hudson
www.vicemovie.com.au