Amsterdam
Whimsical and off-kilter, Amsterdam is a return to form from David O’Russell.
Burt Berensden (Christian Bale) is a war veteran, sent to the front lines in World War 1 by his rich wife’s family, who thought they could either lose a pesky son-in-law, or win him enough medals to be respectable on Park Avenue. What happens instead is that Burt injures himself, becomes friends with Harold Woodman (John David Washington) and Valerie Voze (Margot Robbie), and returns to New York to slowly decline his medical practice as he shuns respectability and focusses on working with returned servicemen. His life takes a turn when his former commander is murdered, and he and Harold go on the case - uncovering a dastardly Nazi plot, even while they themselves have their names dragged through the mud as the potential murderers.
Amsterdam isn’t the most clear, most focussed or most revolutionary piece of filmmaking this year; or indeed, in O’Russell’s oeuvre. However, there is something truly appealing about the film. Most of that stems from its off-kilter comedy, that sucks you into a world of whimsical detective fantasy wrapped up in a semi-nonsense, semi-historical Nazi plot.
Christian Bale is truly fantastic as Burt Berensden, playing to the rafters in a role that is wild, wacky and wondrous. His performance is given grace to be so out there because he is pretty much constantly alongside John David Washington, playing the straight man as solemnly and calmly as possible.
The rest of the cast is uniformly solid, with appearances from Margot Robbie, Robert De Niro, Anya Taylor-Joy, Rami Malek, and many, many more.
Ultimately, the film is an ode to a simpler sort of movie. It is fun, funny and suitably weird. No one could argue it isn’t a little messy. But it also is the sort of film that you can lose yourself in. Compared with O’Russell’s work with Joy or American Hustle, Amsterdam feels fresh, funny and undeniably (ironically) joyful. It won’t be for anyone - as the mixed reviews across the film community attest to - but for us, it is the sort of film that should be made more.
