Directed by Bruce Robinson
Written by Bruce Robinson and Hunter S. Thompson
Starring Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Rispoli, Amber Heard, Giovanni Ribisi and Richard Jenkins
I love this movie. I'd heard that The Rum Diary wasn't very good, so I passed on it in the theater to wait for it to come out on DVD. Now I'm kicking myself. Set in a turquoise-colored world (sky, water, mountains, buildings interiors, clothing, eyes) with splashes of red (plane, convertible, bathing suit, dress, roses, lipstick, nail polish, book), The Rum Diary should be seen on the big screen.
Johnny Depp, delicious as always, is Paul Kemp in this film adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's novel. Kemp, a failed novelist sick of New York and the Eisenhower administration, takes a job as a reporter for the San Juan Star in Puerto Rico in 1960. Of the two and a half unpublished books he's written, Kemp says, "They had no voice. I don't know how to write like me." In his new job he wants desperately to write important stories about the conditions on the island for the indigenous people, but is thwarted by his editor, who wants him to write the horoscopes and feel-good pieces for the tourists.
Kemp finds himself caught up in the struggles between the island natives and American expatriates, including his roommate cum photographer who bets on cock fights and matches Kemp in his alcohol consumption, the shady American property developer who tries to woo Kemp from the paper, and the developer's lovely fiancée Chenault with whom Kemp has become obsessed. The movie is at once beautiful, funny, and quite intriguing.
To order from Amazon click on the following links:
The Rum Diary
The Rum Diary [Blu-ray]
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