The storyline is unusual and original, the actors are all talented and it obviously has a sizeable budget so why is this not a really good movie? At least I did not enjoy watching it much.

I think the main problem is the story. It is all over the place and only in the final quarter of the film is it going anywhere. It is also obvious the makers wanted to use the film to make certain contemporary social statements and that is all fine, but that not does not really help the quality of the film. The way the film is shot and the choice of locations is also quite dark which make for a really depressing watch. The title Amsterdam is also a bit of a misnomer. It is more about Amsterdam as an idea or concept than Amsterdam the city (which is quite beautiful, but you wouldn't know it from watching this film).

I was also not very impressed with the acting. Taylor Swift can't act to save here life and mercifully for us she is quickly thrown under the bus. It might have been the material they had to work with, but I didn't think Robbie and Washington were particularly good. Although Bale is usually an amazing actor, in this film half the time he looks and sound as if he is doing a very good impression of Al Pacino. Really he is uncannily accurate, but it also takes you out of the story when you start to pay attention to it. The one stand out actor for me in this film is Mike Meyers of all people. I didn't even recognize him, but I really enjoyed his performance.

My test for deciding whether a film is good (or even one of the greats) is to ask the following question. Would I want to watch this film again sometime in the future? The answer for this movie is a resounding: No.