An excerpt from my script review for Amsterdam which will be available 02/12/24:
2.) Plot Stability
It’s the day after the Super Bowl (hopefully Travis Kelce hasn’t dumped her, or vice versa), and if you’re one of those people who cheered for the 49ers because you’re tired of Taylor Swift, maybe Amsterdam is the story for you.
In it, Swift plays the daughter of a General she thinks was poisoned, but before she can even get the autopsy results, she’s run over by a truck.
You read that right…she’s in this story for less than 15 minutes, and you can see an imaginary version of Swift getting what’s coming to her!
(In all honesty, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce don’t bother me. I don’t follow her music, nor do I watch the NFL regularly. However I have heard stories about her sharing a good chunk of the profits from her tour with those that work on it, along with rumors that she’s one of the last people to leave the luxury suite at a game as she helps staff clean up. If true, she’s a decent human being that I’m glad things are finally coming together for romantically.)
Back to the story…that little scene sets off a whole bunch of trouble for our two main characters, leading them to their long lost third in the trio of misfits.
For me, I never got all the “hate” that this movie received.
I caught it one Friday or Saturday night on HBO, and I kind of enjoyed it, watching it a second time with the Boss.
Maybe it was because we were comfortable in the living room, watching it at our own pace, but neither of us resented it.
Was it the cast? Again, everyone seemed to be having a good time together, and nothing struck me as “phoning it in” or “out acting one another” which can sometimes happen with these things.
Did it drag on? Sure, in parts, but no more than Once Upon a Time in Hollywood which I could argue had just as many stars and shared a similar “based on” style of storytelling.
Anyway, I’m not going to rehash the whole story, just that it was entertaining, and did what needed doing.
Particularly interesting, and remember from the previous section the “based on” was heavily interpreted, was the fact that business tycoons saw what was happening in Italy and Germany, installing fascist leaders under poor economic conditions with the help of disenfranchised World War I veterans, and wanting to employ it to their personal gain here in the US.
Considering the conditions in the early 1930s, both the Depression and the fact that veterans weren’t getting the benefits promised, it’s certainly plausible.
Intertwined in that are three “misfits” as they’re called by various reviews, that are down on their luck but just trying to make their way in the world together.
It wasn’t a perfect story, but it certainly wasn’t the worst I’ve ever read either.
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