KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Rainey Dawn Johnny Depp plays Kemp, a man you will follow though out his crazy, seldom comical, adventure in Puerto Rico. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I really never did find this film funny.It's rare that I rate a Johnny Depp film low but this one is all that gran to me - even the story is rather boring for me to watch... maybe it's just me this evening but the film is boring me to tears. I'll have to rate this film a big ol' 5. 5 stars for Johnny Depp, -5 for the film itself.5/10

kristaz This movie has some redeeming moments, but overall is just so-so. Seems ACTED. Not natural or all that convincing. The film goes in a lot of directions, but not one single direction. And didn't I see Johnny Depp be this character before in Fear and Loathing? Now that was a good movie. This one isn't. I saw this movie on a cold rainy day while visiting Montreal. I remember the seats at that theater being wildly uncomfortable and the only thing that kept me from walking out of this film was the fact that it was crappy outside and this movie was the best choice of the bunch. Overall, I think both me and this movie both wanted to find a more comfortable theater and go watch something else.

cineastFGD This movie can be summed up in one word: boring. There's no story line, no jokes, no drama, no excitement, the dialogues are shale, bordering, to the ridicule. The characters are shallow and predictable, clichés all along. Depp is at his lowest, he seems like bored by himself. I've never seen him acting so lousy, he seems to have totally lost it. As for Amer Heard, the less screen time she gets the better. It's beyond me why she has been cast in the first place. It's obvious her talent lies with another movie genre with a more visual focus and very little dialogues. A most disappointing experience. So spare yourself this disappointment and employ your time with a more useful endeavor. For example reading the book.

dromasca Watching Johnny Depp in action is always a holiday for movie fans. Depp is one of these actors who can hold a film by himself, and in fact he does exactly this in many cases, included here. The problem starts to show up when the principal reason for seeing the film is that Johnny Depp is in it, and not much more beyond. The Rum Diary is a film that Depp wanted very much to make, it is based on a true story - the one of journalist and writer Hunter S. Thompson - set in 1960, by the time the history of the Americas was taking a turn. However it is also mostly a film for Depp's aficionados and another proof that true stories or biographies do not necessarily lead to good films.The dry story in The Rum Diary is very much about the profession of journalist, and about fighting personal daemons in order to be a true professional. A young journalist takes a job in Puerto Rico, a job he finds out soon nobody wanted to take. He is a drinker and befriends another journalist who is an even heavier drinker and the wrong girl owned by a local tycoon. He discovers soon that one cannot drink as much as he can or wants, befriend beautiful women, write good stories, and be honest at the same time. One may ask what is wrong with this story and why it fails to draw the attention although it has all ingredients of many other successful stories about journalists, corruption, exotic Caribbean islands and their fascinating and dangerous culture. Moreover, it is a true story! Well, this may actually exactly be the problem. We have already seen so many movies (some of them good indeed) inspired by such a true story, that when it is brought to screen closer to what it really was, it looks unsatisfying and deja-vu.The good things - some very good cinematography and a rendition of the 1960 Puerto Rico which is both realistic and colorful. Then we have Depp - of course! The not so good thing - a story that does not really decide what it wants to be - political thriller, retro-history, comedy, with an anti-climax ending. For folks like myself unfamiliar with who Hunter S. Thompson was, this film does only tell an unconvincing story about journalism in exotic Puerto Rico. Director Bruce Robinson made a very promising debut in the 80s, another couple of movies soon after, and then stopped making films for almost two decades until this one. His fans may have expected more from his come back after such a long waiting. Good acting and sure hand in camera and cinematography cannot compensate the weakness of the story. What was supposed to be the strong point of the film eventually ends by being its weakest link. 'The Rum Diary' may raise in time to be better than the commercial failure it was on screens, but less than what it could have been with a better story to support the theme.