The Rum Diary

After 14 years Johnny Depp brings back his Hunter S. Thompson-esq character and brings writer/director Bruce Robinson out of retirement to do it.

It was a good idea for Johnny to bring in Bruce to make this film. He made the highly acclaimed 'Withnail & I' about two guys who are constantly drunk. This time it's only one guy but still the same theme. While it was extremely weird and strange with very little plot, I still loved 'Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas. This film is no where near as weird and has a more conventional storyline but is still and excellent film. The story is more character driven and these are a pretty weird mob of people. Usually the bad guy is the strange one in a story but it is the good guys and his team that are the strange ones. Alcohol once again is the driving force behind the genius of a writer. Paul Kemp seems to be drunk through out the film but still manages to write great stuff. Perhaps I need to start drinking. The film is also very much about a country at this time in history. I'm not familiar with Puerto Rico but the film seems to present a fairly accurate portrayal of this country at a time of crisis. It also presents a view of journalism and newspaper publishing that is much like it is today, with a newspaper struggling to survive. The film presents these situations in a humorous and satirical way. Hunter has no doubt been to this country and therefore knew what he was talking about.

Johnny Depp was great friends with Hunter S. Thompson so he is more than qualified to play a character much like Hunter. This is a more conventional character than most of the weird ones he plays and I don't normally like the normal ones. But here he does an excellent job and plays it less crazy than he did in 'Fear & Loathing'. Michael Rispoli's character Sala has a few features of Dr. Gonzo from 'Fear & Loathing' but without the drug crazed behavior. Michael is excellent though in the side-kick role. Aaron Eckhart does a very good job as one of the only normal people in the film. Richard Jenkins is hilarious as Paul's boss at the newspaper. The toupee was a nice touch. Giovanni Ribisi once again plays a wacky character but he has a good character to play this time that has many witty lines. Amber Heard is very good at looking pretty and playing a love interest.

A clever and witty comedy that satirises Puerto Rico's political situation. A bit more accessible than his other Hunter S. Thompson film for Johnny.