As soon as I saw the first trailer for Amsterdam, I knew that I had to go and see it. This movie is the first time David O Russell has been behind the camera since 2015s Joy so that was pretty cool. The thing is, after I saw the first trailer, I was so sure that this was a movie I was going to love, actually, I wanted it to be a movie I loved, but while it was “good” it never lived up to what I was hoping for.
How to Download Amsterdam
You can download or stream the film from a digital platform such as HBO Max or Hulu. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and check the current availability. You can expect the movie to be online no sooner than 45 days after its theatrical release which happened on 7 October 2022.
The Movie Review
We have to start by talking about the cast. It was the huge ensemble cast that makes up this movie that got me interested in the first place. Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, Thor: Love and Thunder), John David Washington (Tenet), and Margot Robbie (Bombshell, Birds of Prey, The Suicide Squad) being the main three actors. However, with appearances from the likes of Chris Rock (Lethal Weapon 4, Spiral: From the Book of Saw), Zoe Saldaña (she’s Neytiri from Avatar and Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy or Avengers), Mike Myers (he’s the voice of Shrek), Anya Taylor -Joy (check her out in The Witch, Split, or The Queen’s Gambit), Michael Shannon (Knives Out, Bullet Train), and even Taylor Swift (listen to her hit songs You Belong With Me, Shake It Off, or Bad Blood) to just name a few. Amsterdam has one of the most stacked ensemble casts of all time!
Set in the 1930s, the movie is about three good friends who all became close during the first World War. We have Burt and Harold who are serving in World War I, but after they get injured, they go to a hospital where they meet nurse, Valerie. I have to say that Margot Robbie as Valier is an absolute ton of fun in this movie.
As Valerie is getting the two guys healthy, they become very close and they decide to move to Amsterdam together and share a house. They all become even closer friends, with Valerie and Harold becoming romantically linked together. Eventually, Burt, moves back to the USA where he opens a medical practice.
Many years later, Harold who is working as a lawyer asks Burt to look at a body of a man whose daughter believes he was poisoned. Things soon start to get incredibly out of hand as our three close friends are framed for a murder and now, they must try and figure out who has framed them and why they were framed in the first place.
Look, Amsterdam is a fun enough comedy whodunnit kind of movie that mainly gets by on the chemistry between the three leads. I found the humor to be pretty quirky and as I said, I loved Margot Robbie as the kooky Valerie. However, the whole mystery aspect of the movie felt kind of flat to me if I am being honest.
I am not saying it sucked, far from it. However, it did feel like they were just trying to get as many well-known actors on screen as they could for this movie and it kind of made things a little bit hard to follow. I do wonder if on a second viewing in the comfort of my own home if the movie would be better.
While Amsterdam did not click with me the way that I had hoped it would. I can see why some people would absolutely love this movie. I found it to be a decent watch, but there are some big movies at the theater in October and November and I am not sure I would say that this is a must see on the big screen kind of movie.
