No. 73 Amsterdam (2022) 92 of 100

 

If ever a film was less than the sum of its parts it would have to be ‘Amsterdam’. A stellar cast, big budget and some great locations can’t hide the fact that this is a dull and meandering mess.

The film starts well with Christian Bale’s First World War veteran who is now a doctor being asked to carry out an autopsy. His former military commander has been found dead and foul play is suspected. Bale teams up with his friend and former service buddy Harold who is now a lawyer. They are joined by Morgot Robbie’s character Valerie who was a nurse who tended to the pair’s wounds during the war.

We get a flashback to 1918 and see the men before they suffered their injuries and their periods of treatment and convalescence. Robbie is a bit strange in that she makes art out of the bloodied shrapnel that she digs out of her patients.

Back to the present day (in 1933) and the autopsy reveals that the dead man died of poisoning. His daughter, Taylor Swift, is then pushed under a car and our two heroes are framed for her death. The next hour or so has them rushing about and meeting various characters such as Remi Malek’s businessman and a couple of secret agents played by our Mr Shannon and Mike Myers. They state that they have dull jobs and like birdwatching but on-screen captions show that they are actually a treasury agent and an MI6 operative respectively.

Various twists reveal that plans are afoot to unseat the president and to install a dictator in his place. A retired general (Robert De Niro) is lined up to make a speech and he’s being paid off to promote the bad guys. Can our guys foil the plot and save the nation?

I started out enjoying this film with Bale doing a great job as the battle scarred and wacky doctor Burt. The initial mystery was intriguing and I liked the period flashback that showed Bale commanding a black regiment that included Chris Rock. The film did however get bogged down early on and the complex and convoluted plot failed to engage me. Basically as soon as Taylor Swift goes under the wheels so does the film.

Shannon’s double act with Mike Myers is one of the few highlights and they made for an engaging and funny couple. I could have done with more of them as they offered a bit of comic relief each time they popped up. It was good to see Shannon have a lighter character for a change, given he’s usually the intense and shouty one.

The film ran for a bloated two hours plus and the big reveal wasn’t a surprise or that exciting. The story was based on a real life event, but possibly not one that needed a film made about it. The mystery and detection angle were pretty weak and you knew Malik was a wrong ‘un as soon as he showed up.

It was great to see a lot of familiar faces but like our recent viewing of ‘She’s Funny That Way’ too many cooks can spoil the broth, and a lot of people were seemingly shoe horned in for no real benefit. You feel short changed when people like Timothy Olyphant and Anna Taylor-Joy appear and get little to do before disappearing.

I imagine that writer / director David O Russell can call on anyone he likes but I think this is an example of more is less. This one goes down as an overblown, self-indulgent lost opportunity and that's a shame as the bones of something good were in here somewhere.

When is Shannon-On? - 26.55

Outcome? Waving goodbye at the docks

Film 2/5

Shannon Stars 3/5