Review of The Rum Diary (2011) by Rachel G — 12 Apr 2013

Half way through I had to pause - and was astonished to see that we had another 45 minutes to go. At this point, the film already felt several hours long. This could have and should have been better, but a more innovative approach by the director would have been necessary to pull this above and beyond snappy dialogue exchanges and some nice shots.

Also, Johnny Depp looks extremely good - but when was the last time he didn't look, talk and walk like Johnny Depp in a film? He lost his magic somewhere during those Pirate movies. A different casting choice would have been wise, if only to avoid déjà-vu moments - sometimes I felt overwhelmingly reminded of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

But of course this very boring, shallow and lacklustre exercise in filmmaking has not even one tenth of that film's boldness.