Amsterdam is a period comedy/mystery set in 1933 NYC. Best friends Bert(Christian Bale) a doctor and Harold(John David Washington) a lawyer work together for veterans health and rights. In a flashback we see them meeting during WWI, both injured the two bond with an eccentric nurse Valerie(Margot Robbie), after the war the three live freely in Amsterdam for a time but are eventually separated. In the present Bert and Harold investigate the untimely death of their former commander and reconnect with Valerie.
Bale brings his signature commitment and nuance to the role but in this collaboration with writer/director David O. Russell, their third, the material does not match his talent. He's the most assured, most compelling performer in the lengthy cast but it can't elevate a flat script and a convoluted plot. Washington struggles to generate much depth for his character, it's relatively inert, and ultimately cannot overcome the narrative problems. Robbie, like Bale, is assured and magnetic but is equally hamstrung. The extensive supporting cast is filled with celebs but there is so little for them to do in the overly complicated but ultimately unaffecting plot it doesn't much matter.
Visually crisp and rich, beautiful period settings and costuming with a score that is half effective and half bludgeoning all in all make for a immersive production. But the script and tone are the big problems. There is so much plot the characters, their connections and emotions take a back seat, and the plot itself is complex but shallow, the attempts at racial and social commentary are clunky in the extreme. Tonally it attempts comedy but also melodramatic romance, attempts serious social justice but answers it with twee flower child 'love is the answer' sentiment. It's bizarre.
A pristine production, an excellent cast, but with a confused, clunky, emotionally static narrative rendering a lot of effort mostly mundane.
Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.
Don't See It.
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