By: Jarred Braxton
Academy Award nominee Johnny Depp (“Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street”) is enchanted by the beauty and mystery of a tropical paradise yet falls victim to the vices of beautiful women and alcohol in his new movie “The Rum Diary.”
Based on the novel by Hunter S. Thompson and directed by Academy Award nominee Bruce Robinson (“The Killing Fields”), Depp plays a disillusioned journalist named Paul Kemp who arrives in San Juan in the early 1960s searching for a change of pace from the hustle and bustle of New York City.
Upon arriving in San Juan hungover, Kemp takes a freelance job as a reporter for the San Juan Star, under the employment of down-on-his-luck editor E.J. Lotterman, played by Academy Award nominee Richard Jenkins (“The Visitor”), who is desperate to take any writer he can in order to keep the paper from falling under.
Lotterman has only one rule for Kemp and that is “stay away from the alcohol,” because there are barely any writers that can report news for him sober.
Kemp quickly befriends two of his new coworkers who are the semi-rational Sala, played by Michael Rispoli (“Kick-Ass”) and the omni-intoxicated Moberg, played by Giovanni Ribisi (“Avatar,” “Public Enemy”), who happens to be experienced with what the movie likes to believe is the city’s major vice: rum.
As Kemp spends more time on the island, he becomes acquainted with a businessman named Sanderson, played by Aaron Eckhart (“The Dark Knight”) and enchanted by Sanderson’s lovely girlfriend Chenault, played by Amber Heard (“Zombieland,” “Drive Angry”).
Kemp’s time on the island gives him some perspective to the real lifestyle ofPuerto Ricoand allows him to see that there is more to the island than just tourist traps, pristine beaches, and sparkly blue oceans; as a reporter he sees that there is poverty and crime as well as the possibility of vices, which are everywhere.
Kemp tries to keep afloat in his new environment, live up to expectations with his new job, keep a level head when the shady dealings of Sanderson rears its ugly head, and manage his feelings for Chenault but unfortunately, the rum always gets involved and the rum breeds trouble.
This is a movie that scores on originality of concept but disappoints the audience in terms of telling the story.
Though Depp’s timeless and signature charm, wit and mannerisms keep the movie from being a total flop, it is something of a letdown if the audience expects to be completely intoxicated. At best it gives a little bit of a buzz, but the movie ends up being wasteful at times.
Robinson tries to tell a story about a guy who has to go up against forces and beings beyond his control and succeeds in straightforwardness, but it lacks in overall creativity. It is misleading as a dark comedy but in the end it is a fairly average psychological drama.
Where this movie shines is in the characterization. The actors were quite spot-on in the spectrum of delightful to downright demeaning; when the film concludes, Depp’s character does develop into a representation of a symbol who wants to take down types like the Sandersons and the Lottermans of the world, but when the audience wants to find out what happens next, the film ends.
“The Rum Diary,” is good for a brief little buzz, but it doesn’t exactly linger.
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