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When three friends—a doctor with a glass eye, an African-American lawyer, and a mysterious nurse-turned-artist—become entangled in a murder investigation in 1930s New York, they uncover a sinister conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of American power. What begins as a quest to clear their names transforms into a fight against a fascist plot to overthrow the U.S. government.
"Amsterdam" represents one of the most perplexing cinematic experiments of recent years. Christian Bale delivers a fully committed, physically transformed performance as Dr. Burt Berendsen, a WWI veteran who creates unconventional pain medications for fellow soldiers while sporting a prosthetic eye that refuses to stay in place. Alongside John David Washington's stoic Harold Woodman and Margot Robbie's enigmatic Valerie, they form an unlikely trio whose bond was forged in the trenches of Europe and the artistic paradise of Amsterdam.
The film attempts to tackle weighty themes—fascism's rise, America's flirtation with authoritarianism, racism, and the corrupting influence of wealth—but repeatedly undermines itself with jarring tonal shifts. One moment we're witnessing the horror of war wounds, the next we're watching Mike Myers and Michael Shannon engage in bird-watching espionage comedy. Taylor Swift makes a memorable appearance only to meet an abrupt and darkly comedic end that epitomizes the film's bizarre approach to storytelling.
What makes "Amsterdam" particularly frustrating is the glimpse of greatness hidden within its meandering narrative. Based on the real-life "Business Plot"—a legitimate 1933 conspiracy by wealthy industrialists to overthrow FDR's government—the film had the potential to deliver a timely warning about democracy's fragility. Instead, it buries this fascinating history under quirky character studies and surrealist digressions that never cohere into a satisfying whole.
Robert De Niro brings gravitas as the decorated general these conspirators hope to manipulate, while Rami Malek and Anya Taylor-Joy deliver unsettling performances as the wealthy siblings with disturbing agendas. The cast's commitment can't rescue a script that constantly loses focus, jumping between 1918 flashbacks and the 1933 main storyline without allowing either timeline room to breathe.
What could have been a powerful historical thriller or an effective period comedy instead lands uncomfortably between genres, testing audiences' patience with its 134-minute runtime and convoluted storyline. Has a film ever left you more bewildered by the gap between its potential and execution?

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