The Rum Diary

Rum Diary (2011)

If you're looking for the craziness of later Hunter S. Thompson, you'll find shreds of it here. In a way this is a more cogent movie than say "Fear and Loathing…" but it's also a bit prosaic beneath the wilder stuff that peppers the surface. Johnny Depp stars and runs the show in his usual strong if uninspired way as a new, hard-drinking reporter with a failing English language newspaper in Puerto Rico.

There is a true surface here that's pretty amazing--the cars, the low down rot of the apartments, the racism between the rich white Americans and the indigenous Puerto Ricans. The depth you might expect and want here is slim, however, even though all the pieces are in play for a great drama--a charming troubled writer in a land filled with prejudice and violence and great natural beauty. It pushes the clichés too hard, and it's generally agreed (even by Thompson) that the material is weak and "rambling." The movie doesn't rearrange it enough to make it work.

You can in a way watch this for those surfaces, if you don't need too much more. There are several secondary characters who do their best to be a bit insane, including Giovanni Ribisi as a drugged out waif of a reporter, something like what Thompson himself might have become later in life. (See of course the Depp in the imperfect 1998 "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" for a sense of the famous freewheeling selfish addled sometimes brilliant Thompson.)

The director here also adapted Thompson's book and if he gets the credit for the nice ambiance of the film he also gets the burden of how clunky, choppy, and sometimes slow it is, even with such exciting material. It's not a horror, it's watchable, but you'll flag here and there. Even the end, without giving a thing away, is a bit deflating.

The film begins with main character Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) waking up in a luxurious hotel room in Puerto Rico after a heavy night of drinking. After chomping down a few aspirin, Kemp stumbles into the editors office of the San Juan Star and is given a dead end writing job. After a few chance encounters, Kemp becomes the center of intrigue and corruption while consuming copious amounts of alcohol.

"The Rum Diary" was originally a novella from the twisted mind of Hunter S. Thompson an eccentric journalist and novelist who in addition to smoking, snorting, injecting, drinking every drug, alcohol and carcinogen known to man, managed to change the face of journalism by calling it as he sees it. His writing can repel and enchant with equal measure and has a breakneck spontaneity which is rivaled by its frazzled incoherency.

Incoherency would be the best word to describe this film. The story lacks any kind of focus jumping from a love story, a corrupt land deal, drunken antics, workplace politics and racial tensions. Watching "The Rum Diary" was like talking to a drunk grad student; little flashes of genius may linger but after what seems like four hours you realize you're talking to a drunken idiot and looking for the door.

Thompson's other work adapted to screen shares a similar inconsistency but say what you will about "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" at least it was interesting. Director Bruce Robinson seems unsure behind the camera trying desperately to balance themes and while Terry Gilliam threw spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks, Robinson compensates by drawing out its screen time and keeping the camera-work and editing as dull and uninspiring as possible.

The films only saving grace is the inclusion of Giovanni Ribisi as a cirrhosis addled, syphilitic cohort who takes LSD while listening to records of Nazi propaganda. His arguments with the Star's head editor (Richard Jenkins) provide some of the few precious moments of humor.

The epilogue appears while Johnny Depp sails into the horizon explaining that while its the end of the story "...its the beginning of another." I would have liked to have seen the other story. At least by then the sardonic wit of Thompson was finally present.

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I adored the novel, The Rum Diary and as an aid worker I related to many of the character's struggles. Although the film does stray quite a bit from the book itself, I think it's a perfect homage to Hunter S Thompson. The language still reeks of his Gonzo fury writing and manages to transport the audience into a drunken rant, as well as secretly educating them on the struggles of a free press. It had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion, as well as the packed out cinema that I viewed it with.

I rated this movie a 9 and the last film I rated that high was The Shining. I personally think this film was perfect. The leading actress/actors were perfect and the supporting cast phenomenal, especially Giovanni Ribisi. The only problem with this film in my opinion is that if you are not a fan of the gibbering, artistically nervous tone of most of Thompson's work, this film may be too heavy for you. Although it's easier to follow that Fear and Loathing (which scrupulously stuck to the dialogue from the novel Fear and loathing), many would find the dialogue bizarre.

Personally I loved every minute of this film and think it's already truly underrated.

Plot Summary Now if your the sort of person that needs a definitive story line and thick plot to enjoy a film then this probably isn't for you. Its more a 'fly on the wall' view of a young journalists struggles in a failing newspaper. Paul Kemp(Depp) is a young man trying to make his way in a new place, making new friends and enemy's along the way.

What I thought of it I wasn't sure what I would think of this film, I new it has some great actors, such as Johnny Depp and Giovanni Ribisi, but the concept of the film was a strange one. I was pleasantly surprised, the director Bruce Robinson has done a great job with this film, which was always going to be a very tough job being adapted from a novel by Hunter S Thompson and technically having next to no strong plot.

The film itself is stunning, the locations are amazing and well shot, and the editing style and shots work brilliantly with the type of film and more importantly with Johnny Depp, who has a massive screen presence in everything he does, including 'The Rum Diary'.

This film has everything I want to see in a good movie, strong characters, great sets and brilliant comedy, along with meaning. It really makes you think about society and life nowadays and how primarily, nothing has changed in the way the world goes round and the sort of corruption and manipulation that still goes on today all around us, as it did back in the fifties, only less obviously.

On a lighter note, this film is hilarious and great to watch more than once, there is something rather satisfying about watch a man drink huge amounts of high octane rum and have to deal with the consequences the next morning, something that makes you happy its not only you.

Summary In all I thought this was a very enjoyable film for anyone to watch and have a good laugh at while loving everything about the characters. The acting is scintillating and exciting.

I highly recommend this film to all, one to watch ..... 7/10 Stars*

I'm one of the uncultured folks who never read a word of Hunter S. Thompson in my life. If that describes you, too, then read on.

The appeal of this film is geared toward the cult following of HST, capitalizing on the quirky "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas" vibe that Johnny Depp created for the character. Apparently Depp was HST's friend in life, so we can expect a respectful, if not accurate, portrayal. Who knows if that's truly the case, but the Depp character is very likable and unique.

The character comes across as intelligent, always seeming to understand things 1 level deeper than everyone else; however he never comes across as condescending, judgmental or cynical. That's the real beauty to me. For example he can sit and listen to his friend, a drunken Hitler fan, say some pretty racy and racist things, and he doesn't say a word. But in that deer-eyed look that only Depp can do, we feel the comedy of the awkward situation without feeling the bitterness of, say, someone rolling their eyes or sighing in exasperation.

It's that innocent-yet-worldly approach that makes his performance such a treat to watch. The opening scene sets the character's tone for the entire film: he awakens in a hotel room looking like he had just spent the night drinking a small bathtub of booze. The locked mini bar has been ravaged as if by a pack of crazed ferrets. The room service guy stares in disbelief as Depp says, "I avoid alcohol" and then with that boyish smile "when I can." What can I say, that had me rolling right off the bat. The whole movie is somewhat low-key like that. There are no big punchlines, pratfalls or sight gags, but there are some absolutely classic moments like that which make you feel like you're part of an inside joke.

The story itself? Well here's where I do know something about the book: many things were changed, and the ending itself was watered down. But it's still entertaining with a message: it's the story of a lone crusader who uses the power of journalism to battle the corrupt commercial powers invading Puerto Rico. I have to admit that the ending left me a little unsatisfied but not because it was weak. I didn't like it because it sorta injected a clichéd, Hallmark-channel-type scene when this film is certainly not Hallmark-channel material. But really that was just a 30 second scene, and aside from that I thought the film was well presented.

Of course there will be comparisons to Terry Gilliam's "Fear & Loathing" which established the HST-Depp character and his surreal adventures. Hardcore Gilliam fans might be offended by the mimicry, but I thought it was well played in the same way I enjoyed Peter Hyams' film "2010" which was a fan-doomed followup to Kubrick's untouchable "2001".

"The Rum Diary" doesn't have quite as much surrealism & quirk, but it certainly has its fair share. There's a psychedelic drug-induced line about a man's tongue that had me in stitches. I won't spoil it, you gotta hear it for yourself.

If you're a casual fan of "Fear & Loathing" (or maybe even a hardcore fan, who knows), if you like early Depp characterizations like "Ed Wood", if you like existentialist comedies about people who seem to be adrift in their own isolated world with their equally outcast friends, you might want to check this out.

WARNING: One thing I didn't care for was the way it glorified cockfighting (all the characters seem to enjoy & profit from it). But at least there's no blood or mutilation shown, and the American Humane Association did monitor film production. Still it might be a little unsettling for people who don't like depictions of animal abuse.