Amsterdam | Reelviews Movie Reviews (2024)

With its whiplash-inducing tonal inconsistencies andsloppily assembled narrative, Amsterdam often feels like a pastiche of (takeyour pick) Monty Python, The Coen Brothers, or Wes Anderson grafted onto acrime caper/espionage thriller with a strong allegorical message about fascism.This is more the freewheeling David O. Russell from American Hustle,which also spun its wheels early before settling down, than the disciplined filmmakerwho made Silver Linings Playbook and The Fighter. It takeswell over an hour before Amsterdam decides what it wants to be and, bythat time, viewers may be exasperated by the film’s quirkiness and exhausted byits meandering, unfocused storyline.

Considering that talent involved, anything less than a homerun would have to be considered a disappointment. One of the downsides of havingso many well-known actors vying for screen time is that none of them gets achance to shine (not unlike in 2021’s Don’t Look Up). From a narrativeperspective, the story (an opening caption informs us that “A lot of this reallyhappened”), which fictionalizes a Depression-era conspiracy to replace FDR witha respected military man, is not uninteresting but it takes Russell too long towade through the preliminaries. The movie doesn’t start building momentum untilRobert De Niro shows up, and that’s more than an hour into the proceedings.

Russell’s attempts at screwball comedy are inexpert; he’s noPreston Sturges. One of the problems is that the lead trio – physician BurtBerendsen (Christian Bale), attorney Harold Woodman (John David Washington),and shut-in Valerie Voze (Margot Robbie) – are thinly drawn. They never becomereal and the romantic attachment between Harold and Valerie is stronger in Russell’simagination than on the screen. By using a non-linear structure to establishthe characters and their circumstances, Russell is more apt to confuse viewersthan add multi-dimensionality to the characters. The first half is a muddle.

Chronologically, Amsterdam begins during the finalyear of World War I. That’s where Burt, Harold, and Valerie meet: they’reinjured servicemen and she’s a nurse. After the war, the threesome travel toAmsterdam, where they enjoy an idyllic break from reality before Valerie disappearsand Burt and Harold return to the U.S. – the former to become a physicianobsessed with repairing the disfigurements of war veterans and the latter tostudy law. Fifteen years later, Burt and Harold remain friends but neither hasseen Valerie since Amsterdam. That’s about to change, however.

Burt and Harold are approached by Liz Meekins (Taylor Swift),the daughter of their former beloved commanding officer, General Bill Meekins(Ed Begley Jr.), to investigate the circumstances surrounding her father’s passing.Contrary to the official cause of death, Liz believes he was murdered. It doesn’ttake much to convince Burt and Harold that she may be right but a series of badbreaks and coincidences have Burt and Harold on the run from the law trying toclear their names. This once again brings them into contact with Valerie alongwith her brother, Tom (Rami Malek), and Tom’s wife, Libby (Anya Taylor-Joy). Tomwants to help and has powerful connections but is unwilling to stick out hisneck…unless Burt and Harold can convince the revered General Gil Dillenbeck (RobertDe Niro) to speak out in their defense. Against Tom’s wishes, Valerieaccompanies the men when they leave.

Christian Bale’s performance is delightfully loopy. Burt,with his glass eye and penchant for slapstick, is something out of a Mel Brooksmovie. Bale is matched beat-for-beat by Margot Robbie, whose bona fides forfarce go back to her eye-opening turn in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street. That leaves John David Washington as the straight man, the BudAbbott to Bale’s Lou Costello – it’s a role that fits like a glove. Thesupporting ensemble is crammed with recognizable names. In addition to RamiMalek, Taylor Swift, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Robert De Niro, Russell (despite a checkeredreputation) was able to attract Andrea Riseborough (as Burt’s wife), AlessandroNivola and Matthias Schoenaets (as two detectives), Michael Shannon and MikeMyers (as bird-watching secret agents), Zoe Saldana (as Burt’s love interest –sparks fly during an autopsy), and Chris Rock. Of those, Saldana is underusedand there’s a little too much Myers.

Amsterdam’s politics are obvious to anyone who islooking. Although events transpire primarily in the 1930s, there’s little doubtthat Russell is drawing parallels to today. This may be only one of many itemson the director’s crammed agenda for the film but it’s one that is the mostlikely to draw fire in some quarters. While the parallels are imperfect, thescreenplay does its best to italicize them, equating the worldwide rise of fascismand nationalism in the 1930s to similar political movements in recent years. Attimes, the observations are on-point but they are also a distraction, intentionallyremoving the viewer from the movie’s setting.

There’s no lack of ambition in what Russell attempts with Amsterdambut his goals outstrip his ability to achieve them. A lot of scenes and moments,taken in isolation, are effective, but the juxtaposition of so many conflictingelements creates an unwelcome tension between comedy, drama, and suspense thatthe filmmakers are unable to manage. The lack of chemistry among the leads doesn’thelp the scattershot storytelling. In short, Amsterdam is a mix of goodand bad – possibly the least imposing entry on Russell’s strong filmography butby no means unwatchable. It just requires some fortitude to wade through thefirst hour.

Amsterdam (United States, 2022)