Does 'The Rum Diary' Go Down Smooth, or Do Viewers Choke?

"The Rum Diary" is based on the book of the same name and is sure to attract fans of it. The film chronicles Paul Kemp's (Johnny Depp) new life in Puerto Rico as a journalist. His dispassion for the Eisenhower administration led him to this need to escape his life in New York. Now his life is a vortex of rum and obsession with a local woman. What do Tennessee viewers think of the film and Johnny Depp's performance?

"I thought the movie would never end. I was sitting in there with my friends and I was just bored out of my mind. I was looking forward to this flick after being glued to the book. The main problem is that the film just slows all the development and characterization to a halt and rarely captures the imagery of the novel." -- Tiffany Adams, 24, Collierville

"Johnny Depp could have been the factor that made this movie worth watching. Instead he just kind of shuffles around struggling to be more than a semi-likable shrimp. I would have liked to see someone a little more charismatic in the role is all." -- Tabatha Harris, 30, Memphis

"I'll never be able to take Depp seriously again after seeing him in 'Alice In Wonderland' and 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.' He lost all the credit I could ever afford to him as a serious actor. That said, the movie itself is pretty boring." -- Caleb Willis, 35, Cordova

"This movie really wants to be alternative and thoughtful without actually doing anything. The appeal is supposed to be in the simplicity of the story and the characterization marching on. Instead it comes across as being more than a little pretentious." -- Amber Boe, 32, Cordova

"Is it a faithful adaptation of the novel? I'd say so. Was it executed in the way that I imagined it in my mind's eye? Not by a long-shot. In that sense, it is a real letdown because I could have done a much better job." -- Sandy Cox, 30, Millington

"As a fan of the book, I think it was an insult to cast Johnny Depp as Paul. They should have stuck him in the next Pixar film or something because he just didn't do it for me in this one." -- Wendell Hall, 32, Memphis

"For a film like this, you need to be in the right mindset. You can't walk into the theater expecting something that's going to constantly excite you. This one is about stimulating your mind and making you look at your life. You can see how what started out as a well-meaning effort to escape an undesirable environment went wrong. That said, it isn't perfect by any means. Still, I enjoyed it." -- Christian Dunaway, 20, Memphis

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