A Closer Look at 'Amsterdam'

"Amsterdam" emerges as a perplexing combination of excess and deficiency, showcasing a chaotic and aimless narrative. The star-studded cast, including Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Robert De Niro, Anya Taylor-Joy, Rami Malek, Chris Rock, Michael Shannon, Zoe Saldana, Alessandro Nivola, and more, seems to have been misused. Merely observing them engage in casual conversations or even maintaining silence would have been more captivating. Regrettably, David O. Russell attempts to occupy his actors with a series of unimpressive adventures, detours, and eccentric diversions, mistakenly believing them to be clever and charming.

Throughout my viewing of "Amsterdam," I repeatedly found myself questioning the movie's purpose and direction. I frequently had to pause and reorient myself, attempting to comprehend the current situation. However, unlike the exhilarating and thought-provoking experiences of films like "Memento" or even "Cats," this film simply induces confusion. It's an overwhelming mishmash of nonsensical elements that abruptly comes to a halt, compelling several of its stars to deliver lengthy speeches that attempt to clarify the points David O. Russell failed to make during the previous meandering two hours. The concluding scenes subject us to tedious, sentimental narration, elucidating the importance of love and kindness, while juxtaposing them with the bohemian rhapsody imagery we witnessed only moments ago.

As with many of the writer/director's previous works, there's a pervasive sense that anything can happen at any moment while watching "Amsterdam." Russell usually exhibits such vigor in his camerawork and takes daring tonal swings that leave us in awe, wondering how he manages to maintain coherence and integrity. However, this time he falls short. "Amsterdam" lacks the captivating visual language of films like "Three Kings" or "American Hustle," and it lacks characters who possess a genuine sense of humanity like those found in "The Fighter" or "Silver Linings Playbook." Despite the considerable talent on display, not a single character on screen feels authentic. Each one appears to be a mere collection of peculiarities, some more intriguing than others.

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In its simplest form, the plot revolves around Christian Bale and John David Washington portraying lifelong best friends who become suspects in a murder they did not commit. While attempting to uncover the truth, they stumble upon an even larger and more sinister conspiracy. Russell's script jumps back and forth in time between 1933 New York and 1918 Amsterdam, utilizing this temporal framework and the emergence of fascist ideologies to comment on the recent years of right-wing American politics. Ultimately, he hammers the message home with excessive force. But first, there's whimsy.

Bale's character, Burt Berendsen, is a folksy doctor with a recurring issue of his glass eye falling out. He's hooked on his homemade pain medication, which leads to his frequent collapses and subsequent eye mishaps. Bale delivers an intense performance, fully committed to this shtick. Washington portrays Harold Woodman, a former Army soldier who served alongside Burt in a racially diverse battalion during World War I. Harold has since become an attorney and is the more levelheaded of the duo. When their beloved general dies under suspicious circumstances, his daughter (played somewhat stiffly by Taylor Swift) asks them to investigate.

However, their investigation quickly escalates into a chase, prompting a flashback to their initial meeting. This section of the film proves to be the most entertaining. Russell indulges in the duo's nostalgic recollections of their post-war adventures in Amsterdam, particularly their encounters with Valerie Voze, played by Margot Robbie. Valerie, a nurse who cared for them during their injuries, swiftly becomes their partner in various drunken escapades. Emmanuel Lubezki, a renowned cinematographer and multiple Oscar winner, known for his work with directors like Alfonso Cuaron and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, steps back from the overpowering sepia tones that often suffocate the screen, creating a sense of nostalgia. These sequences in Amsterdam are imbued with genuine life and joy, which is lacking elsewhere. Robbie, portrayed as a brunette this time, exudes an ethereal glow, but her character falls into the clichéd trope of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, secretly wealthy and turning bullet shrapnel into art. It's a heavy-handed metaphor for the healing impact she has on Burt and Harold's lives.

The frustrating aspect of "Amsterdam" lies in the occasional scenes, interactions, or performances that genuinely entertain and come close to fulfilling Russell's intended impact. Several subplots and duos scattered throughout the narrative possess the potential to create a more engaging movie than what is ultimately delivered. Malek and Taylor-Joy, portraying Valerie's pretentious brother and sister-in-law, provide a bizarrely amusing dynamic. Notably, the costume design by J.R. Hawbaker and the legendary Albert Wolsky deserves recognition, with its rich period details and Taylor-Joy's striking red dresses. Nivola and Schoenaerts as ill-matched cops, constantly at odds with each other, inject some humor and make an effort to infuse their characters with depth beyond what is on the page. Shannon and Mike Myers portray a pair of spies, adding a lighthearted laugh or two, but their contribution remains limited.

Despite these occasional moments of enjoyment, "Amsterdam" ultimately succumbs to convoluted storytelling and tedium, overshadowing any glimmers of positivity. Its excessive runtime and self-indulgent sense of importance weigh it down, rendering its core message about the essential need for human decency as a superficial afterthought. Whispering the word "Amsterdam" throughout the film, as some characters do, fails to evoke the intended magical allure.