It's 1933 New York City. Burt Berendsen (Christian Bale) is a doctor working for disfigured war veterans. His war buddy Harold Woodman (John David Washington) is a lawyer. Harold recruits Burt to perform an autopsy on their former commander Bill Meekins at the behest of his daughter Liz Meekins who suspects foul play. He was probably poisoned. While meeting Liz on the streets, a car runs her over and kills her. Harold and Burt are accused of her murder. During the war, Meekins assigns Burt to lead an all black regiment. Burt gains respect from Harold and the other men. They are all injured and hospitalized where they are treated by nurse Valerie Voze (Margot Robbie).

There are so many stars in this one. Sometimes, they're distracting like Mike Myers and Taylor Swift. Mostly, they are overkilling to fill the secondary roles. The stardom overload is distracting. Writer/director David O. Russell seems to be impersonating one of the Coen brothers except the humor is not there. It's deliberately quirky without actually being funny. The second half turns a bit Kafkaesque. It does have something to say, but the last ten minutes get rather preachy. The tone of this movie is all over the place.