Christian Bale talks new movie 'Amsterdam,' shares memories from filming in Chicago

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Three friends are suddenly all murder suspects, and they have to prove they're innocent in a hurry in the new movie "Amsterdam" that opens Thursday night.

Leading man Christian Bale plays a doctor who keeps losing his glass eye at the worst possible times.

"Burt is somebody, who against all the odds remains joyous, and refuses to go numb to life, refuses to resort to hatred," Bale said. "He's somebody who should be absolutely obliterated and broken by his experiences, but he's a scrapper, he's a fighter, and he uses the pain and the suffering that he's gone through to come out with wisdom and an infectious joy in his life. He's somebody I would want to have as my best friend."

While the movie is described as a sort of comedy, it also has it's scary moments.

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"How do you deal with terrifying situations in your life, life is full of pain and suffering, life is not fair, it never has been," Bale said. "How do you deal with that, without being beaten by it, and these are people who refuse to be beaten by it.

But first and foremost is the heart of this friendship, this triangular friendship in the film."

Bale also shared some of his best Chicago memories after shooting scenes here for "Batman" and Public Enemies."

"Oh, man we did some incredible stuff in Lower Wacker, just remarkable things," Bale said. "Then I got to work with Michael Mann on 'Public Enemies,' and bringing in my daughter and my family and having wonderful times in Millennium Park."

And he's also been inspired by a local I gotta tell you there's a fantastic organization I'm involved with called SOS Children's Villages Illinois. It's a wonderful model of foster care. I'm actually starting my own village here in Los Angeles trying to rally Angelinos to take care of our kids, inspired by the Chicago model."

20th Century Studios is a division of Disney. Disney is the parent company of ABC7 Chicago.