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Richard Corliss, Time: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "Proudly sodden and sleepy-eyed... plays like a drunken night with the guys as seen by the one teetotaler; it displays the amiability of an alcoholic haze without conveying it." (Read the full review...) 1,217 words, 10/28/11 Jake Coyle, Associated Press: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Bruce Robinson doesn't present the cartoonish Thompson we've come to expect. It's a refreshing, grounded view of the writer." (Read the full review...) 664 words, 10/27/11 Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly: MODERATE (cg) "Only some of Depp's capers engage (like the drunken car chase with angry locals). Otherwise, it's all too easy to gaze at the palm trees and the ocean and daydream." (Read the full review...) 82 words, 10/27/11 Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: MODERATE (cg) "We're supposed to be witnessing the birth of a great journalist, but Hunter S. Thompson, as his career went on, got swallowed up by his mystique as an outlaw of excess." (Read the full review...) 509 words, 10/28/11 Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...isn't classic cinema. But damn if the movie isn't alive to the challenge of capturing the gonzo master in the act of inventing himself." (Read the full review...) 609 words, 10/28/11 Claudia Puig, USA Today: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Much of the dialogue's offbeat wit seems to come straight from Thompson's book. That distinctive dialogue is the movie's greatest asset." (Read the full review...) 483 words, 10/28/11 Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Depp has a deep attraction to Hunter Thompson, who he played earlier in 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' (1998). Thompson was apparently good company..." (Read the full review...) 881 words, 10/28/11 James Rocchi, MSN Movies: WEAK (cg) "...winds up being the laborious equivalent of a drunkard clumsily retracing dance steps he first made when he was much younger and more alert." (Read the full review...) 848 words, 10/25/11 James Berardinelli, Reel Views: MODERATE (cg) "There are times when the story behind the making of a film is more interesting than the finished product. This is one of those occasions." (Read the full review...) 799 words, 10/27/11
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "Connoisseurs of straw hats and cool sunglasses will find much to savor, as will aficionados of guilt-free cigarette smoking and midday boozing. A mild lark..." (Read the full review...) 867 words, 10/28/11 Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Depp remains a guy who can distill humanity from caricature, no matter how weak the mix." (Read the full review...) 400 words, 10/28/11 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...the novel's essential power has been lost in translation. Where Thompson gave us skillfully observed substance, Robinson gives us well-crafted veneer.... Still, the film is beautifully rendered." (Read the full review...) 770 words, 10/28/11 Kyle Smith, New York Post: MODERATE (cg) "Hunter S. Thompson wrote the book, Johnny Depp stars and Bruce Robinson, who did 'Withnail and I,' directs. So in the true spirit of the '60s, it was pretty much guaranteed to be a disappointment." (Read the full review...) 610 words, 10/28/11 Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Depp's amusement and engagement with scoundrels and rakes of all types can anchor even a wobbly film." (Read the full review...) 495 words, 10/28/11 Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: POOR (cg) "A plotless, pointless mess likely to exasperate even die-hard Thompson fans." (Read the full review...) 325 words, 10/28/11 David Edelstein, New York Magazine: WEAK "...has no mighty gonzo wind. Even with a push from its Thompson-worshipping star, Johnny Depp, it leaves our freak flag limp." (Read the full review...) 633 words, 10/29/11 Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Depp has a deep attraction to Hunter Thompson, who he played earlier in 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' (1998). Thompson was apparently good company..." (Read the full review...) 881 words, 10/28/11 J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "...what the Brits might call a rum movie -- an oddly inoffensive piece and a personal project for its disconcertingly unengaged star, Johnny Depp." (Read the full review...) 690 words, 10/26/11 Peter Howell, Toronto Star: MODERATE (cg) "Depp does very well, but as talented and watchable as he is, even he can't completely save the picture." (Read the full review...) 618 words, 10/28/11 Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...content to tickle your feelings of nostalgia." (Read the full review...) 608 words, 10/28/11 Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...while it doesn't totally gel, Aaron Eckhart and Amber Heard do some really interesting work on the margins." (Read the full review...) 163 words, 10/27/11
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: MODERATE (cg) "Brimming with Thompson's alcohol-drenched antics, observational wit and gift for the acidly apposite phrase... [but] also suffers from a creakily episodic structure..." (Read the full review...) 656 words, 10/28/11 Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: VERY GOOD (cg) "...isn't high art. But in its depiction of a budding artist who got himself very high, it excels." (Read the full review...) 574 words, 10/28/11 Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...an agreeably drunken stagger through the novel Thompson based on his formative year as a writer -- 1960 -- which he spent drunk, getting into trouble and first tangling with 'The Man' in Puerto Rico." (Read the full review...) 620 words, 10/28/11 Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...gives Johnny Depp the opportunity to play another type of Caribbean drunk.... a colorful travelogue unsure of where it's going." (Read the full review...) 418 words, 10/28/11 Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: VERY GOOD (cg) "...isn't for everyone, but fans of Thompson will find enjoyment in the relative booze-soaked calm before the psychedelic storm." (Read the full review...) 559 words, 10/28/11 Ty Burr, Boston Globe: MODERATE (cg) "...solid twisted fun for about two-thirds of its 120 minutes, until you realize that it's not going anywhere..." (Read the full review...) 586 words, 10/28/11 Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "Depp is fine, and there's an authentic, Third-World grunginess to the island scenes; Richard Jenkins is great, as always..." (Read the full review...) 455 words, 10/28/11 Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: MODERATE (cg) "That the movie is leisurely and unconventional is all part of its charm - until it isn't anymore. The movie is a tale of corruption, but then it's not. It's a love story, but no, not quite." (Read the full review...) 662 words, 10/28/11 Soren Andersen, Seattle Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "The picture is all over the map, but Depp's performance is right on target as he captures the troubled spirit of his madman muse." (Read the full review...) 417 words, 10/28/11 Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: EXCELLENT (cg) "...a rare instance of a film living up to the anticipation that its very existence engenders, and you have to be heartened by that." (Read the full review...) 587 words, 10/28/11 Joe Holleman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: VERY GOOD (cg) "...solid and entertaining..." (Read the full review...) 333 words, 10/28/11 Steve Persall, St. Petersburg Times: EXCELLENT (cg) "...a movie of vibrantly decadent parts.... Thompson's fans will embrace its twisted verbal dexterity, romantically imagining the author feverishly pulling strings from the beyond." (Read the full review...) 562 words, 10/27/11 Tom Long, Detroit News: WEAK (cg) "...a woozy mess that should never have made it to theaters. But then, it stars Johnny Depp, so it did." (Read the full review...) 304 words, 10/28/11 Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: VERY GOOD (cg) "...the whole movie is one big, beautiful, funny, nostalgic blast and a fine, fitting tribute to a writer who relished skewering sacred cows." (Read the full review...) 499 words, 10/28/11
J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "...what the Brits might call a rum movie -- an oddly inoffensive piece and a personal project for its disconcertingly unengaged star, Johnny Depp." (Read the full review...) 690 words, 10/26/11 Josh Tyler, Cinema Blend: MODERATE (cg) "...fails to capture any of the brilliance of Thompson's novel, and whenever it gets close, it somehow botches it." (Read the full review...) 708 words, 10/27/11 Ann Lewinson, Boston Phoenix: VERY GOOD (cg) "Bruce Robinson has rewritten Thompson's autobiographical novel in the inebriated-buddy image of his 'Withnail and I'; his dialogue is wickedly quotable, his moral outrage unabashed." (Read the full review...) 156 words, 10/27/11 Scott Tobias, AV Club: GOOD (cg) "...feels loose but lackadaisical -- a shaggy-dog story that's mostly shag and little dog.... too much of 'The Rum Diary' is not just aimless but rudderless..." (Read the full review...) 392 words, 10/27/11 Stephanie Zacharek, Movieline: EXCELLENT (cg) "Depp's Kemp looks equally at home zipping around San Juan, dressed in a neat sports jacket and dapper Panama, or crawling his way out of bar-room brawl." (Read the full review...) 663 words, 10/27/11 Andrew Schenker, Slant: MODERATE (cg) "...the film too often feels like a series of perfunctory episodes that don't cohere into a satisfying whole." (Read the full review...) 574 words, 10/25/11 Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...while it doesn't totally gel, Aaron Eckhart and Amber Heard do some really interesting work on the margins." (Read the full review...) 163 words, 10/27/11 Wyatt Williams, Atlanta Creative Loafing: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...more or less, a pornographic fantasy of what it means to write for a newspaper." (Read the full review...) 1,009 words, 10/27/11 MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: MODERATE (cg) "...disappointingly unengaging.... fails to impart any sense of positive, productive defiance.... makes for a lousy tribute to Thompson's fundamental insolence." (Read the full review...) 337 words, 12/07/11
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "Connoisseurs of straw hats and cool sunglasses will find much to savor, as will aficionados of guilt-free cigarette smoking and midday boozing. A mild lark..." (Read the full review...) 867 words, 10/28/11 Mark Jenkins, NPR: FAIR "...struggles to seem both authentic and outrageous.... too muted to convey the intensity that propelled Thompson past most of the other magazine feature writers of his boozy era." (Read the full review...) 615 words, 10/27/11 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...the novel's essential power has been lost in translation. Where Thompson gave us skillfully observed substance, Robinson gives us well-crafted veneer.... Still, the film is beautifully rendered." (Read the full review...) 770 words, 10/28/11 Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: GOOD "It's enjoyable enough, after its digressive, episodic and voyeuristic fashion.... irresistible fun, and largely a pointless entertainment..." (Read the full review...) 1,146 words, 10/26/11
Justin Chang, Daily Variety: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...several drafts shy of a fully developed yarn.... best appreciated as a succession of richly rendered moods, plenty stimulating in the moment but rarely coalescing into something greater." (Read the full review...) 1,032 words, 10/14/11 Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "A diverting but uncompelling look at Hunter Thompson's coming-of-age in Puerto Rico 50 years ago, courtesy of Johnny Depp." (Read the full review...) 989 words, 10/14/11 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...the novel's essential power has been lost in translation. Where Thompson gave us skillfully observed substance, Robinson gives us well-crafted veneer.... Still, the film is beautifully rendered." (Read the full review...) 770 words, 10/28/11 Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: GOOD (cg) "...deserves credit for effort and ambition, if not for execution and achievement." (Read the full review...) 1,257 words, 10/27/11 A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "Connoisseurs of straw hats and cool sunglasses will find much to savor, as will aficionados of guilt-free cigarette smoking and midday boozing. A mild lark..." (Read the full review...) 867 words, 10/28/11
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