The greatest trick David O. Russell ever pulled was convincing the world he’s an A-list director. Yes, he did find love from the Academy with the one-two-three punch of The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Hustle. Well-documented off-screen abuses aside, the majority of his films land more distinctly as fine rather than great or even good. Perhaps with the release of Amsterdam, we can finally agree that he is not, in fact, one of the Great American Filmmakers.
On paper, Amsterdam has all the ingredients to be a success and a baity awards season player. Behind the scenes we have the five-time Oscar-nominated writer/director/producer. Russell joins forces again with production designer Judy Becker and editor Jay Cassidy. Here he teams up with celebrated cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity, The Revenant). Daniel Pemberton (Birds of Prey, Trial of the Chicago 7) provides a jaunty score. And that is all before we even look at a cast so stuffed with famous faces most of them only have time to appear as cameos.
(L-R): Michael Shannon as Henry Norcross, Mike Myers as Paul Canterbury, Christian Bale as Burt Berendsen, Chris Rock as Milton King, and Robert De Niro as General Gil Dillenbeck in 20th Century Studios’ AMSTERDAM. Photo by Merie Weismiller Wallace; SMPSP. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
But even the best recipes can turn into disasters and such is the case with this dizzying whodunnit inspired by the Business Plot of 1933 in which conspirators plotted to replace Franklin Roosevelt with a hand-selected dictator. Christian Bale leads a huge ensemble as Burt Berendsen, a Park Ave. doctor who devotes his practice to helping injured war veterans find medicinal relief. His commitment to wounded warriors comes from his own service in World War I, service he entered into reluctantly at the behest of in-laws who were probably just trying to get rid of him.
Burt’s best friend is Harold Woodman (John David Washington), a lawyer and former war buddy. The two bonded under the command of General Meeks (Ed Begley, Jr.), and later recuperated together from serious injuries with the help of Valerie Voze (Margot Robbie), an artist posing as a nurse in a soldiers’ hospital. Burt, Harold, and Valerie soon become the best of friends and wile away their days in Amsterdam, Harold and Valerie free to enjoy a relationship that would be illegal back home in the States. The flashback to 1918 and to the early days of the trio’s friendship could make for a charming story if it didn’t feel shoehorned into the mystery of General Meeks’s murder in 1933 and a larger conspiracy involving retired General Gil Dillenbeck (Robert DeNiro).
The plot is chaotic and convoluted. It feels as though the entire script were constructed from a rather rowdy game of Cards Against Humanity. (“What never fails to liven up the party?” “Getting run over by a garbage truck!”) Russell can’t seem to decide if he wants to make a comedy or a satire or a relationship drama or a murder mystery or a political thriller, so he just mixes them all together. And then he throws in important themes like racism and fascism and Nazism and patriotism and capitalism and love and hope and happiness. His broader message is clearly a word of caution. This crazy conspiracy happened in 1933 and if we aren’t careful, it just might happen again and actually succeed. But he doesn’t just warn us. He makes us dizzy and confused and then beats us over the head with words and pictures.
And thus is the true failing of Amsterdam. It isn’t the cast, a veritable who’s who of Hollywood stars including Chris Rock, Andrea Riseborough, Anya Taylor-Joy, Rami Malek, Michael Shannon, Mike Myers, Zoe Saldaña, Taylor Swift, and so many more. And it isn’t the craftsmanship either. The real problem is that Russell tries to make a movie about so many things that he can’t ever quite complete a thought before jumping to another. It is a disorganized collection of ideas that doesn’t even have the courtesy to be entertaining.
