Brief Story Line
Set in the year 1933, Doctor Burt Berendsen (Christian Bale - Ford v Ferrari, The Big Short etc) opened a clinic for war veterans. When Burt's old friend from the army Harold Woodman (John David Washington - Beckett, Ballers TV series etc) asked his help to do an autopsy on their ex military general, they stumbled on something big that endanger their lives. During their investigation, they somehow met their old friend Valerie (Margot Robbie - Birds of Prey, Peter Rabbit etc) from their time in Amsterdam and together they tried to solve the mystery.
So how would the story conclude? You can find them all in this movie.
End of Brief Story Line
As I said above, I did not get the chance to see this movie during its theatrical run in Indonesia which did not last too long. Probably because it did not get the attention and good word of mouth to promote it. Anyway when I watched this movie, the early part felt quite fun supported by the dark humor surprisingly because of the character Burt Berendsen. As soon as he met with Harold, the comedic situation felt stronger but there was also a sense of urgency, especially after that shocking scene on the street of New York.
What surprised me the most was the large ensemble cast of this movie. There were well known stars such as Rami Malek (No Time to Die, Doolittle etc) as wealthy textile businessman Tom Voze, Anya Taylor-Joy (The Menu, Split etc) as Tom's wife Libby, Zoe Saldana (The Adam Project, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 etc) as nurse Irma, Chris Rock (Spiral: From the Book of Saw, Madagascar movies etc) as Burt and Harold's old friend from the army Milton and Robert De Niro (Joker, Meet the Parents trilogy etc) as General Gil Dillenbeck. There were even the appearances of other names like Mike Myers (Shrek movies, Wayne's World etc), Michael Shannon (Bullet Train, The Shape of Water etc), Timothy Olyphant (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Live Free or Die Hard etc) and Taylor Swift. So I was amazed every time there was a person I recognized showed up.
The obvious stars of the movie would be the three lead cast. I thought they performed their roles quite well. I also loved Robert de Niro's portrayal of General Dillenbeck. There was a brief mid end credit scene that you should not miss out as it just gave further proof of his brilliance. Btw, the movie had a duration of 134 minutes which to me was too long as there were parts in the middle that felt a bit boring (I even dozed off a bit).
I liked the story when it involved Burt, Howard and Valerie in particular when they first met with each other and at latter stage. But as the investigation involved something political, I was not feeling too excited. I remembered reading about the film sometime ago that it was inspired by true events. However, I also could see that there were a lot of things which were either dramatized or fictionalized to make the film more comedic. It was written by David O. Russel who also served as the director. He was famous for directing movies like I Heart Huckabees, Silver Lining Playbook, American Hustle and few others. Unfortunately though, this time his work was not really appreciated by critics which was understandable considering the movie did not feel that great. Sometimes it felt fun, but other times it felt too serious.
Overall to me this film was OK, but it was not up to the amazing level, which was too bad considering it was supported by awesome director and many experienced actors and actresses who were multiple award nominees and winners. Although I liked the performance of the three lead stars and the nice chemistry among them, but I find it hard to really enjoy the whole film, probably because it was a bit too long and the plot was not that interesting. Oh the movie's setting was really good and the makeup department did a great job, which is likely the reason why it was praised for its production value. So if you like this kind of film, then you can give it a try as it is easily available on Disney+. For me personally, it has some nice traits but not entirely entertaining.
Mike's movie moments rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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