It's like being served a Mr. Pibb, when you wanted a Dr. Pepper. You realize something is not quite right, but you can finally convince yourself this will do, until the real thing comes along.

Amsterdam is ultimately an enjoyable ride, if a long one. And I do mean long. The film wouldn't have been hurt in the least with a good 30 minutes chopped off, here and there. It seeks to be quirky, with mixed results, and makes social commentary, perhaps not with a sledgehammer, but certainly more bluntly than a more subtly nuanced film might do.

Christian Bale owns the film, no question. David John Washington is serviceable, but wooden (most probably intentionally, as his character is the least charismatic of the group). And Margot Robbie looks great, but her accents, in English at least, wander all over the place (again, in some circumstances, it may be by design, but not all). My only question for Bale would be, did the glass eye come first to inspire the Columbo impersonation, or did he come in with that character, and the glass eye just rounded it out? Either way, it was a thoroughly entertaining comedic turn.

Where the film wobbles a bit is that, it seems to me, it is trying to introduce a modern mainstream pop culture audience (read: mostly goes to Marvel movies) to a broader, quirkier, more intelligent story. But by doing so, it feels the need to spell out everything, leaving virtually nothing to audiences' imagination or speculation. A more nuanced film could have trusted the audience to understand references and allusions (and by doing so would have shaved considerable time from the run time, improving the flow significantly). In one exception though, it does refrain from completely over-sweetening a particular romantic "symmetry", leaving it presumably open to interpretation, but nevertheless giving the audience a clear understanding for the characters' future.

All in all, a quite enjoyable film, that probably aspired to be something more than it finally became. And likely could have been better with more disciplined editing and trust in the audience.