To sum up mu thoughts on Amsterdam: I would say it feels like a film that's been hacked down from a good 3 hour film down to a 2+ hour mess. It feels like there's just so much to praise here from Acting on all fronts to Lubezki's emasculated visuals to O'Russel's gift for crafting insane, tense, and often hysterical individual scenes. That's why it kills me to say it just never seems to click into place.

The very first rule in writing a good story: show, don't tell. Amsterdam is 80% tell. Constant voice over exposition just completely shatters any sense of flow the story could have had and I'm not someone who typically bemoans the use of it. If anything I was excited in the beginning, realizing it was going to be a part of Amsterdam being a huge fan of O'Russel's American Hustle. After all, I would prize that film as one of the most exemplary pieces of how to pull it off correctly. Amsterdam is the complete opposite. The film seems to jump unexpectedly and illogically all over the place, explaining it's way through almost every scene with almost no time reserved for getting to know the characters as people and what does exist of character development only served to remind me of how great this film could have been had it only went a little further.

I can't say I didn't enjoy the film at but I'd never say it blew me away either. I'm still glad I saw it.