We often speak of that almost ethereal and magical thing called “chemistry” between actors in memorable films — but there are also movies in which the undeniably talented cast members never seem to click, for a myriad of reasons. In the case of David O. Russell’s jaw-droppingly terrible, aggressively tasteless, profoundly unfunny and interminably dull conspiracy thriller and would-be comedy “Amsterdam,” the all-star ensemble has less chemistry than a high school freshman on the first day of class.
If someone in a particularly surly mood were to list the worst five films in the respective careers of Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, Robert De Niro, Rami Malek, Chris Rock, Zoe Saldaña, Michael Shannon and John David Washington, they’d always have “Amsterdam.”
