Fresh off the triumphant “Amsterdam” (I kid) David O. Russell has been tapped to direct Sacha Baron Cohen and Keke Palmer in “Super Toys.”
So much for being “cancelled.”
Russell wrote the script and will direct. Baron Cohen and Palmer will play hippie-ish 70’s toy sales reps on a life-and-death mission to save themselves, their marriage and their anarchic 12-year-old daughter while on the road in Middle America.
Sounds .. plain. But given that it stars Cohen and Palmer I don’t expect anything middling when it comes to this film.
If you remember, Russell had already booked his first post-Amsterdam project late last year. He was going to direct the pilot for a Paramount+ limited series titled “FIFA.” No word yet on if that project is still happening.
It seems as though there is still some prestige left with Russell’s brand of filmmaking as he’s constantly delivered critically-acclaimed films in his career, such as Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter, Three Kings, Flirting With Disaster and American Hustle.
Late last year, as “Amsterdam” was gearing up for release, a slew of anti-Russell screeds (here, here, here, here) had been published to tarnish his reputation. 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.
Of course, it was inevitable that American critics would respond negatively to “Amsterdam,” no matter how good it turned out, and that’s just what happened. Was “Amsterdam” as bad a movie as reviews entailed it to be? I’ll leave the answer up to you.