David O Russell is a filmmaker whose previous work I've enjoyed, and he certainly put together an all star cast but for a film that appears to have flopped spectacular at the box office. Whilst I'd agree that the film doesn't wholly work, I didn't hate it and I hope it doesn't mark the end of his career.

Two friends, Burt Berendsen (Christian Bale) and Harold Woodman (John David Washington) are drawn into a bizarre but dangerous conspiracy following the death of their World War I General, Bill Meekins (Ed Begley Jr). Following injuries during the war, the pair bonded with an eccentric Nurse, Valerie (Margot Robbie) and the trio moved to Amsterdam, where funded by MI6 and CIA operatives they helped rehabilitate injured Veterans. Years later, in New York, a second death gives them a link to a Tom Voze (Rami Malek) and brings Valerie back into their lives.

I think, fundamentally, the problem with this film is one of tone. It's balancing some real-life events that actually occurred, with a thinly hidden parable about fascism in present day America, with some elements of almost a screwball comedy and it doesn't, for me, do that job particularly well. It's really harsh on O Russell who has made some excellent films, but my overriding thought whilst watching "Amsterdam" was that I wished the Coen Brothers were directing it. They would, I suspect, have played up the comedy a little more and made a more consistently amusing but crucially even film.

O Russell does remain the actor's director though, and he gets excellent performances out of his cast again. And what a cast it Is too. Aside from the ones already mentioned, Timothy Olyphant, Michael Shannon, Andrea Riseborough, Zoe Saldana, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock and Robert De Niro all appear. Bale is the star though, and his gaunt, comedic but emotional performance is the spine of the movie. The period recreation is well done.

I felt like I wanted to like it more than I actually did. There's an awkwardness to it, probably stemming from the unusual tone, that it never overcomes, but it's not disastrous and the performances are strong enough that it's just about worth your time.