Given the talent involved, this is terrible and so self-indulgent. One of the most boring films I've seen in some time. John David Washington is not a leading man, and this just adds to his poor resume.

It’s incredible how many great actors you can shoehorn into your movie and get the worst performance out of everyone; Christian Bale, on the other hand, is the only good one here. John David Washington is so one-note here, as he has the same tone of voice and facial expression throughout. You can tell Robert De Niro is phoning it in regarding his line delivery and lack of interest. The whole movie feels like an overdose of “acting pills”. It’s a plotting movie that thinks it’s clever and funny but ends up being confusing and boring.

David O. Russell's first film in many years is very frustrating. It was already clear from the trailers that the large cast, peppered with many well-known names, was supposed to be the selling point of "Amsterdam". And that is precisely the film's major flaw. There are simply far too many characters who are frequently given little to do. Every time a new actor first appears, the camera lingers on their face forever. This can be extremely uncomfortable at times. Nobody in the cast even comes close to bringing their A-game. Of the main trio, I mostly liked Christian Bale's Burt. Meanwhile, Margot Robbie is in real danger of being typecast. And Harold, played by John David Washington, is a bore. I also have little positive to say about the plot. Most importantly, it is totally convoluted. The majority of the film is made up of sequences with multiple people standing or sitting in a room. And there is a lot of talking. Every single one of those conversations overstayed its welcome. These scenes are accompanied by a score that is nothing more than background noise. To avoid being so damn boring, the story should have been greatly streamlined. The only positive aspects are the solid cinematography, excellent costume design, and overall production values. Still, the absurdly high $80 million budget for this type of film can only be explained by the massive cast. There are no expensive set pieces or, at the very least, elaborate scenes. It is stated at the beginning of the film that "a lot of this really happened." I have no doubts about that, because nothing noteworthy occurs in "Amsterdam"—at least not in the movie.

A movie with a cast this good has no business being so boring and meh.

I gave it a 9. The satire was spot on and pulling together current issues to the early 1930's is just fantastically done. I believe this movie is going to be one of those cult classics, underrated at first but recognized as a classic work eventually. The low ratings seem to come from people that don't understand satire and the movie would fly over their heads. The script is laced with references to the early 1930's fascist movement in the USA, and they are just dropped into the story so nonchalantly unless you know US history between WWI and WWII, particularly the efforts by the American Bund (US Nazis), most of the references would be missed. For example, the giant George Washington portrait is a direct snub to the American Bund. There were 32 Americans arrested for espionage, largest in American history, for trying to establish a dictatorship. There were rumors that they approached at least two generals. One semi portrayed here fantastically by DeNiro. The attempt to appeal to veterans, hoping they would turn on their Oath to the Constitution, happened also. Honestly, just writing this I want to watch again to be able to point out so many of the references that were placed into the story. Just a fantastic script. The low ratings are most likely because it is satire. Satire usually flies over the heads of dumber people and we seem to be at a juncture where idiots reign supreme. But it's extremely well acted and directed. I felt they did a wonderful job of capturing the 1930's feel in the way it was written, acted and directed. I thought the camera positioning could've been a bit more Orsen Welles style in a few scenes. But just fantastic overall.