Amsterdam– Review
134 Minutes, Rated R
Written and Directed by David O. Russell
**NOTE: this post may be updated with audio if we actually get the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
In the 1930s, three friends witness a murder, are framed for it, and uncover one of the most outrageous plots in American history.
“A lot of this really happened,” reads a simple title card to open the film.
Oh, goody: here we are again, back in the realm of “what is true and what isn’t” in terms of movies and history.
This time, it’s a plot against the United States government from director David O. Russell: Amsterdam.
I honestly don’t know what to make of this one. If you do a Google search for “Business Plot,” you’ll find reports of an alleged plan to foment a military coup against FDR by a group of veterans to install retired Marine General Smedley Butler as dictator.
This type of fascist takeover was all the rage in Europe, and a supposed group of businessmen in America thought it would be a good way to break the United States out of the Great Depression (and likely make a butt-load of cash at the same time).
It is important to note that the only character in this film based on someone actually “involved” is Robert DeNiro’s General Gil Dillenbeck, who stands in for the real Smedley Butler.
Everyone else in this cast is either a parody of a New York (New Amsterdam… get it?) socialite or a character who might have existed in 1933. Our leading three (Bale, Robbie, and Washington) spent many post-WWI years living like Bohemians in (actual) Amsterdam before Bale returned to New York and began the unlikely series of events which brings the film into being, but none of those three people actually existed.
Other than that, Mr. Russell seems to be taking liberties with the “a lot” portion of his opening declaration.
As for whether the film itself holds together? Well, I found it to be a bit of a mess, narratively.
We’ve got flashbacks, bad narration, dialogue that vacillates between stilted and clunky, and performances more akin to, but not quite worthy of, a top-shelf Wes Anderson film.
It fancies itself too smart by half, and there are simply too many personalities moving around in here between Bale, Robbie, Washington, and DeNiro, with brief bits of Chris Rock thrown in at random, for the film to properly gel.
And that’s before we get to Anya Taylor-Joy, Rami Malek, Zoe Saldana…
It’s probably more appropriate to say the film congeals narratively.
Don’t get me wrong; I don’t hate the film. I just don’t particularly care for it.
Amsterdam will release exclusively in theaters on October 7 and stars Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Alessandro Nivola, Andrea Riseborough, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Shannon, Mike Myers, Taylor Swift, Zoe Saldana, Rami Malek, and Robert De Niro.
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