AMSTERDAM

Writer/Director David O. Russell continues to recycle previous cast members while also gaining new ones. This new entry into his auteur is no different than his previous films as he (somehow) continuously is able to garner multiple Hollywood A-list actors for his films. This story (somewhat based upon true events) enlists the likes of Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Robert De Niro, Michael Shannon, Anya Taylor-Joe, and Rami Malek. The story follows a WWI veteran doctor Burt Berendsen (Bale), WWI veteran and lawyer Harold Woodman (Washington), and nurse Valerie Voze (Robbie) on a case of mistaken identity. When their former commander of their regimen turns up dead, Berendsen is asked by the commanders daughter, Liz Meekins (Taylor Swift), to perform the autopsy as she believes something is afoul with regards to her fathers untimely passing. While revealing the results of her fathers death, Liz is suddenly killed in front of an onset of bystanders. Being made the scapegoats of the murder both Berendsen and Woodman must piece together who benefits most from the murder of their former commander in order to clear their names. Truth be told, I've never been much of a fan of David O. Russell. His films have always been mediocre to me and this is no different. He assembles an A-list cast to carry his lightweight film and this is just another iteration of it. The film states it's based upon true events but as a member of the audience, being able to decipher fact from fiction is a difficult task. And in fact, this feels more like Hollywood/liberal propaganda in its own right as anyone who disagrees with their narrative (oops, spoiler alert) is deemed an enemy. I was bored about halfway/three-quarters in and the finale is a convoluted mess with so much information being presented to the audience, I questioned who was right and who was not. Not a terrible film that is maybe worth seeking out at least once but on streaming and not in theaters. 5.5/10