Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
David O. Russell has been trending on Twitter this afternoon, with over 14k tweets to his name? Not many of those having to do with the released trailer of of his new movie, “Amsterdam.”
No, “Amsterdam” is starting to feel irrelevant for a lot of people now. It didn’t help that the trailer was somewhat underwhelming, but fact remains that Russell has yet to answer the years of accusations directed towards him.
Russell, a director of exceptional talents, has a storied reputation for being a major asshole to work with. Yesterday’s release of the “Amsterdam” trailer led to a slew of Russell-Needs-to-Be-Cancelled think pieces — including a nasty takedown from The Daily Beast.
Other anti-Russell screeds, posted in the last 24 hours, can be found here, here, here, here … well, you get the point. I don’t think Russell is going to be able to get out of this one. How is the “Amsterdam” promo going to work exactly?
Should he get “cancelled” for his past misdeeds? I don’t think any artist, no matter how despicable they are, should be prevented from creating art, but the firestorm against Russell is inevitably coming. There is no way American critics will respond kindly to “Amsterdam,” no matter how good it turns out to be.
Russell’s past actions have included on-set tantrums, screaming matches, and the persistent humiliation of his actors. Then there’s the allegations from his transgender niece, Nicole Peloquin, who filed a report against him when she was 19 years old, accusing Russell of groping her at the gym. Russell admitted he did it, but blamed his niece for her obscene behaviour, saying she was “acting very provocative” towards him.
If there weren’t so many incidents involving his bad behaviour, Russell would be known as the guy who put Christopher Nolan in a headlock at a party because Jude Law wanted to be in Nolan’s movie instead of his.
Amy Adams admitted to crying almost every day on the set of “American Hustle” — the actress told GQ, “He was hard on me, that’s for sure. It was a lot.”
On the set of 1999’s “Three Kings”, a second assistant director quit due to his abusive behaviour. George Clooney has even admitted to coming close to punching Russell on the set of that film.
However, absolutely nothing will beat the purposely leaked on-set footage of 2004’s “I Heart Huckabees”, where we can see Lily Tomlin absolutely losing it on Russell.
Russell’s last film was 2015’s “Joy,” the #MeToo movement hadn’t really revved up its engines until 2017. You’d think that whoever greenlit ”Amsterdam” would have foreseen this incoming shitstorm, but no, instead it’s being released as an awards player in November, with the best cast the director has ever assembled.
Regardless, the chickens have now come home to roost. I doubt O. Russell can escape the wrath that’s about to be unleashed on him.
I actually find that number optimistic. Tickets for “Digger” go on sale next Tuesday, and presales will give us a better picture of how bad it’s looking.