Jeremy of The Daily Rotation wrote, "Johnny Depp takes a step back in The Rum Diary. He’s done this type of film before and he’s done it so much better in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Now that film was weird, interesting and just generally insane. The Rum Diary on the other hand, not so much. It steals bits that worked in Las Vegas, but on the whole it’s a failed attempt at a past comedy. It provides very little laughs and very little point. At the end of the film you’ll be scratching your head wondering what the whole point of the film was and what director Bruce Robinson set out to accomplish while filming it. Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart and the rest of the cast all provide watchable performances, but it’s the lack of direction that makes their effort wasted and the whole film a lost cause."
Movies Hate You Too writes:
For June Netflix has added a decent assortment of new and catalog releases to its streaming lineup. Several critically acclaimed films from 2011 have entered the stream in addition to several worthwhile coming of age comedies, several horror films of varying quality, and some films I can only qualify as “so bad they’re good.” Lastly, a few other fan favorites have made their way back to the Netflix Streaming after briefly disappearing most likely due to contract negotiations.
CPC:
I guess this should really come as no surprise considering the craze that is The Twilight Saga, but Breaking Dawn has gone on to, again, be the top-selling DVD for the week ending February 19th. This is the movie’s second week in the top spot, and its second week of release (well, one and a half weeks is more like it).
Jeremy of We Got This Covered wrote, "Johnny Depp re-teams with some Hunter S. Thompson material for The Rum Diary; a film that's not as crazy as their last pairing in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but it's still a mildly entertaining change of pace for both Depp and Thompson. It's entertaining because of its actors, but it fails because of its weak focus. It's one part an alcohol induced trip, full of shenanigans and mishap and another part sculpting of a writer and how he fits into this world."
