October 6, 2022
In 1918, Dr. Burt Berendsen (Christian Bale) and lawyer-to-be Harold Woodsman (John David Washington) met as fellow soldiers for the American regimen in Paris at the tail end of World War I. They both sustained significant injuries during one encounter, and they were attended to by a dedicated nurse named Valerie (Margot Robbie) who later became their good friend. After the war, they all went to Amsterdam so Berendsen could get his injured eye fixed, and Harold and Valerie can proceed with their forbidden romance.
12 years after the war, Burt and Harold were again brought together when they were contacted by Liz Meekins (Taylor Swift), the daughter of their former commanding officer General Bill Meekins (Ed Begley, Jr.) to investigate his suspiciously sudden death. However, as soon as they get involved, Burt and Harold were framed for murders that they did not commit, and important pieces of evidence were being stolen. Circumstances led to them being reunited with Valerie as the plot thickened.
This star-studded film (with 15 actors named above the title on the poster) is the latest work by acclaimed writer-director David O. Russell, the auteur behind such Oscar-nominated films like "The Fighter" (2010), "Silver Linings Playbook" (2012) and "American Hustle" (2013). After faltering with "Joy" (2015) and dealing with documented issues of toxic abuse against his cast and crew, Russell took an extended break from film directing, only coming back to the big screen this year with this new one -- and it is a major one.
The three lead stars of Bale, Washington and Robbie all nail their memorably idiosyncratic characters. Bale's Dr. Berendsen has dedicated his post-war career to repair injured war veterans like himself, who had a scarred face, broken back and a glass eye. Washington's Atty. Woodson was a charismatic, confident and cool lawyer who knew how to stand his delicate line as a black man. Robbie's Valerie was an artist with bizarre ideas as she created her art works with shrapnel she extracted from the soldiers she treated.
Every other actors in the cast played similarly quirky characters which gave color to the whole noir scenario. Andrea Riseborough played Burt's wife. Chris Rock played a fellow war veteran. Zoe Saldana played an autopsy nurse. Mike Myers and Michael Shannon played intelligence agents. Matthias Schoenaerts and Alessandro Nivola played NYC police officers. Rami Malek and Anna Taylor Joy played influential socialites with big ideas for change. Robert de Niro played the widely-admired General Gil Dillenbeck whose words were worth gold.
Being a comeback vehicle of sorts, David O. Russell was out to impress. However, his over-ambitious direction with abundance of little details across its 2 hour-14 minute run time may have been too much to be helpful to his cause. There were some subplots which did not eventually lead to anything substantial in the long run. However, because of the powerhouse cast, as well as technical excellence in cinematography, production design, makeup and costumes, this was still entertaining and involving to those who get its drift. 7/10.
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