The 1933 Business Plot serves as the inspiration for David O. Russell’s 10th film. Russell aimed to repeat the success of American Hustle by making a film based on a historical event and filled with an ensemble cast.
Burt Berendsen (Christian Bale) is a doctor and veteran of the Great War and treats other veterans out of a sense of solidarity. He gets hired along with his war buddy and lawyer Harold Woodsman (John David Washington) to investigate the death of their former commander. The seemingly simple autopsy quickly sees Burt and Harold accused of murder and need to prove their innocence. This leads to them reconnecting with an old friend from Amsterdam, mingling with the New York elite, and investigating a mysterious organisation called the ‘Committee of the Five.’
In the early 2010s Russell scored a hattrick of well-received films with The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Hustle. American Hustle was particularly notable because it earned ten Oscar nominations, including the big six. However, Russell has been a controversial filmmaker since he has often gotten into conflict with his actors and there are unpleasant allegations about his off-set activities. That has clouded a lot of people’s opinion of the man, at least for film aficionados.
Russell wanted to recapture the success of American Hustle. Both films were loosely based on a real historical event and had ensemble casts. They were both led by Christian Bale and had Robert De Niro in a supporting role. Yet Amsterdam didn’t match American Hustle on a critical level, and it has been reported that Russell’s latest is set to lose $100 million.
Amsterdam had a major problem: it couldn’t decide its tone. The film bounced around from being a whimsical Wes Anderson directional style, a ‘30s style farce, and a crime and political thriller in the vein of Martin Scorsese and The Coen Brothers with a little sprinkling of Quentin Tarantino. Combined with that was the film having multiple storylines and a large cast of characters. It was a juggling act that Russell couldn’t handle.
Amsterdam was not able to mix the tones together. It just flipped from showing Burt being a doctor who was helping veterans and speaking with a whimsical voiceover, then going into broad comedy, and exploring darker ideals held in the 1930s. Nor did it help that the film didn’t do any of its tone particularly well. If someone wanted to watch a Wes Anderson-style film they would watch a Wes Anderson film, whilst the funniest moment was unintentional. Michael Shannon and Mike Myers were especially painful in their roles as spies who collaborated with the main trio.
Amsterdam got distracted by subplots that didn’t go anywhere. An example of this was Burt being stuck in the middle of a love triangle. Time could have been better spent with the characters investigating The Committee of Five. There was an interesting story about a shadowy group of business elites who attempted to overthrow FDR by using a popular general and First World War veterans. It offered a great avenue for some political commentary, but Russell seemed to be only interested in the political commentary.
Amsterdam was a film that tried to cover way too much and it suffered because of this. An interesting story was undermined by Russell’s poor judgement and the needless diversions.
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Summary
As cliched as it sounds, Amsterdam was a case of wasted potential.
