Amsterdam is the new film by David O’Russell and stars Christian Bale, John David Washington and Margot Robbie as a trio of friends who in the case of Bale’s doctor character and JD Washington’s lawyer character first met during World War 1 and they first meet Robbie’s nurse character after the war and the 3 make a pact to look out for each other and be friends as they live together in Amsterdam but the doctor character goes back to the US to see his wife (Andrea Riseborough) and then he and his lawyer friend are accused of a crime they didn’t commit and when trying to clear their names uncover a sinister plot.
Amsterdam is very much a movie of 2 halves for me and the second half of which is the one I preferred by a mile as at the heart of it lies a fascinating historical story involving a plan to overthrow the American president and install a dictator ala events in Germany that were happening at that time (this movie takes place in large part in 1933 before World War 2) and it has some resonance for recent events of the last year or 2 and I was really compelled by this half of the film especially when you read about in history books how quarters of high society back then really admired that way of doing things seeing it as a strength when it was nothing more than a darkness that the world had no choice but to fight and defeat.
The rest of this movie feels so cartoonish that at times I thought I was watching a murder mystery sketch comedy as it bounces around from one scene to the next and one big name actor after another it honestly feels like they may as well be on the Late Show where its “Ladies and Gentleman, Anya Taylor-Joy, up next Rami Malek, later on Myke Myers and Michael Shannon and so on” and not only did it feel so cartoonish in terms of O’Russell’s direction and execution of it but I didn’t laugh or care all that much frankly.
And as for this huge star studded cast Bale is fun at times but its because he seems to understand that he’s in a cartoon comedy film that he at least doesn’t feel out of place, John David Washington is every inch a movie star but here he feels dull and lifeless, Margot Robbie feels way out of place, Taylor-Joy and Malek feel like their in a totally different film while Robert De Niro becomes the central figure of that part of the film I did like and sorely wish had been the core focus of this movie instead of the murder mystery sketch show act.
Before I wrap up however Star Trek Deep Space Nine fans are going to enjoy who shows up in this movie in a small role.
And so that was Amsterdam and it’s a clown car of a movie that really needed to be rewritten from the top by another writer as this movie when it finds its footing has a fascinating historical story at its core that is stuck in an unfunny and cartoonish sketch show that I didn’t care for very much at all, 2 and a half out of 5.
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