2 minute read
Screens
Feeling optimistic about election season. Amsterdam
Amsterdam’s Mystery without Surprise
By John J. Bennett
screens@northcoastjournal.com
AMSTERDAM. When David O. Russell entered popular consciousness — with Spanking the Monkey (1994), an Oedipal rom-com that almost immediately went into heavy rotation on the Independent Film Channel — he was not accompanied by the fanfare that greeted some of his anointed indie-cinema contemporaries. Granted, he was one among many, but he was also (and continues to be) possessed of a heady nerdiness, an internalized sense of absurdity that was not as immediately crowd-pleasing as some of the splashier stu borne of the Sundance era. Still, he found a footing in the industry, thanks to talent, work ethic and, I suspect, pugnacity. Following his debut, he went on a pretty exciting run (at least by movie nerd standards), writing and directing: Flirting with Disaster (1996), one of the few modern screwball comedies to actually evince some of the wit and velocity of its infl uences; Three Kings (1999), a treasure hunt action-comedy set against the injustice of the fi rst Gulf War; and I Heart Huckabees (2004), an exploration of commercialism and philosophy that defi es description.
Along the way, Russell emerged as something of a problematic fi gure, even in the coal-fi red days of the early internet. George Clooney famously chin-checked him on the set of Three Kings, rumor had it, in defense of the less-famous cast and crew. In a video that went viral before we even used the expression, he attempted to shout down Lily Tomlin while fi lming Huckabees; he was, not surprisingly, unsuccessful.
In 2010, Russell directed The Fighter, a departure from his usual pan-genre meta-commentary that would become his biggest critical and commercial hit. While that project forged a fruitful collaboration with star Christian Bale (himself sometimes accused of being di cult on-set), it also ushered in an increasingly spotty, perhaps indulgent period in Russell’s career. While Silver Linings Playbook (2012) was widely acclaimed on its release, the years have not been kind. And American Hustle (2013) and Joy (2015) — well, they might be a little less than the sum of their dazzling parts.
Amsterdam arrives at a curious moment. The movie business being what it is (which is not what it once was), releasing a staggeringly star-heavy anti-fascist murder mystery — a period piece, no less — seems like a bold, if ill-advised gamble. But Russell, perhaps raging against the dying of the light, had made a characteristically self-confi dent clout move, convincing somebody with the big money to back exactly that play. I won’t say it is entirely unsuccessful.
allco-opmembers arewelcome
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING 49th First in-person AMM since 2019!
Live Music by Lizzy and the Moonbeams
october 15 1 - 4 PM
JEFFERSON COMMUNITY CENTER park
(Park behind building, on A Street)
