Amsterdam
David O. Russell’s all-star, over-stuffed satirical murder mystery fails to find a satisfying tone.
A complete mystery: Rami Malek, Anya Taylor-Joy and Margot Robbie
David O. Russell likes his movie stars. He’s directed Christian Bale, Melissa Leo and Jennifer Lawrence to Oscar glory and here has accumulated his largest galaxy to date, with five Oscar nominees (and winners) among them. He hasn’t stinted on the production design or prosthetics, either, and the film is nothing if not admirable. After announcing that, “a lot of this really happened,” Amsterdam takes three fictitious figures and follows their Jules et Jim-like friendship out of the battlefield of the First World War. Christian Bale is a doctor, Margot Robbie a nurse and John David Washington an attorney and at the time they meet, in Belgium, they are serving their country. Freely cutting between time frames, the film opens in 1933 in New York where Burt Berendsen (Bale) and Harold Woodsman (Washington) are asked by a mysterious blonde (Taylor Swift) to perform an autopsy on the corpse of her father, an eminent senator, who has died under mysterious circumstances. In fact, there is a lot of mystery afoot as a new movement is growing in America that will stop at nothing to accelerate its power.
As more and more characters (and famous actors) emerge out of the woodwork, so the personal concerns of the central friendship take on a more global aspect. While all is eventually revealed in the final act, the road there is more than a little twisted and lugubrious. Presumably David O. Russell, who directed from his own script, hoped that the generous dose of idiosyncrasy with which he has coated his tale would help to keep his audience engaged. While the sight of the infinitely chameleonic Christian Bale as a grizzled, one-eyed New York cripple is initially eye-popping – along with the array of prosthetically enhanced cameos – it is not enough to sustain the interest for 135 minutes. What the film really lacks is a sense of momentum, which all the screwball asides fail to keep afloat, resulting in what feels akin to a long-winded variety performance. The tone, ranging from the slapstick to the macabre, is hard to get a handle on.
Amsterdam itself, a haven where Burt, Howard and Valerie Voze (a vibrant Margot Robbie) can hang out and be themselves without interference, becomes a symbol, perhaps even a metaphor for today’s liberal conscience. There are many good things in the film, not least the extraordinary evocation of 1930s’ New York, as well as the inspired artwork of Valerie Voze, who draws on the shrapnel dug out of her patients for her raw material. Such inspired flourishes recall the brilliance of a filmmaker whose previous successes include The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle and Joy. It's no wonder, then, that such a stellar troupe of actors queued up to work with him.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Alessandro Nivola, Andrea Riseborough, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Shannon, Mike Myers, Taylor Swift, Timothy Olyphant, Zoe Saldaña, Rami Malek, Robert De Niro, Ed Begley Jr, Beth Grant, Gigi Bermingham, Casey Biggs, Colleen Camp, Leland Orser, Max Perlich, Bonnie Hellman, Tom Irwin, Richie Harrington, Jessica Drake, Dey Young, André Tardieu.
Dir David O. Russell, Pro Arnon Milchan, Matthew Budman, Anthony Katagas, David O. Russell and Christian Bale, Screenplay David O. Russell, Ph Emmanuel Lubezki, Pro Des Judy Becker, Ed Jay Cassidy, Music Daniel Pemberton, Costumes J.R. Hawbaker and Albert Wolsky, Sound Ann Scibelli, Dialect coaches Jessica Drake, Tim Monich and Elizabeth Himelstein.
Regency Enterprises/New Regency/DreamCrew/Keep Your Head/Corazon Hayagriva-20th Century Studios.
135 mins. USA. 2022. US Rel: 27 September 2022. UK Rel: 7 October 2022. Cert. 15.
