The 1933 would-be plot against President Franklin Roosevelt is a fascinating footnote to history, and I think it could be the basis of an excellent movie. And given the star-studded cast and the director's track record, I had high hopes for "Amsterdam". So what went wrong?

I think there are two problems. First, the tone of the movie is off. This was a serious attempt by a group of powerful people to overthrow the government and install a dictatorship. The story should have been treated as a political thriller, perhaps told from the perspective of the intelligence agents who investigated it. Instead, most of the movie tries to be an offbeat farce about a group of unlikely friends who stumble into history. Then, in the last half hour, there is a jarring tonal shift towards Making a Serious Point with Contemporary Relevance.

The other problem is the performances. Christian Bale tries very hard to be an eccentric New York Jew, but his effort is obvious and he never seems comfortable in the role, which may be why he comes across as nervous and twitchy, but not actually funny. The only genuine laughs in the movie come courtesy of Chris Rock, in s small role. The other male lead, John David Washington, gives a wooden performance, although to be fair the screenwriters don't give him much to work with--he is a Noble Black Man with no discernable interesting personality traits.