Margot Robbie, Christian Bale and John David Washington are headed to Amsterdam, but people aren’t happy about it. No matter how stellar the cast is, nobody is particularly excited to see a David O. Russell movie these days. Still, the disgraced director, who first hit the headlines eight years ago with allegations of sexual abuse, has managed to convince the best of the best to work with him on his new film Amsterdam.
The main trio is the core of the film, a random group of three friends (imagine these three actors befriending each other in Hollywood today!) who travel to Amsterdam and witness a murder. As they themselves become suspects, they are forced to team up and find the real killer – even if he or she is hiding among the three of them.
“So two soldiers and a nurse ended up in Amsterdam,” Bale’s gruff soldier narrates. “We made a pact and swore to protect each other no matter what.”
The comedy is set in the 1930s, following the heists of our two soldiers, one a nurse, but also a supporting cast of the biggest names in pop culture. While Russell’s frequent collaborators Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper are no longer appearing this time around, Christian Bale (who won an Oscar for his turn in Russell’s The Fighter) and Robert De Niro are back for duty.
If Aaron Sorkin thought he had the best of the best in Hollywood in Don’t Look Up, Amsterdam beats him. Robbie, Bale and Washington star in the film, but Rami Malek, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Zoe Saldana, Mike Myers, Michael Shannon, Timothy Olyphant, Andrea Riseborough, Matthias Schoenaerts, Alessandro Nivola, Robert De Niro and… .Taylor Swift also makes an appearance.
Which begs the question: Why did all these Hollywood darlings want to work with David O. Russell, of all people? After the trailer was released today, social media users wasted no time bringing up the director’s dark past, which is tainted with a bombshell sexual harassment allegation. There’s a reason Russell has been on hiatus for seven years.
“I want to freak out over the movie with Margot Robbie and Taylor Swift, but it’s more important to point out the disgusting things David O. Russell has been accused of,” wrote one, echoing a common sentiment. Others specifically reminded followers of the allegations against Russell a few years ago.
In 2012, Russell’s 19-year-old niece, Nicole Peloquin, accused the director of fondling her breasts and placing his hands near her genitalia. Adding to the disgust, Russell pushed her niece for her ongoing transition — after she described the hormones she used, the director put his hands under her shirt to feel her breasts.
The director did not dispute the incident, only adding that Pelokin “behaves very provocatively towards him.” He was not charged.
Yet the show must go on? Amsterdam will open in theaters on November 4.
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