Review: The Rum Diary

Based on the debut novel by Hunter S. Thompson. Tiring of the noise and madness of New York and the crushing conventions of late Eisenhower-era America, Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) travels to the pristine island of Puerto Rico to write for a local newspaper, run by downtrodden editor Lotterman. ~Rotten Tomatoes

The Rum Diary was a thoughtful, interesting, period piece of a detour on the life of the protagonist, Paul Kemp in the 1950's in Puerto Rico. Paul takes a writing job at a newspaper.

According to Wikipedia, "During the 1950s Puerto Rico experienced rapid industrialization, due in large part to Operación Manos a la Obra ("Operation Bootstrap"), an offshoot of FDR's New Deal, which aimed to transform Puerto Rico's economy from agriculture-based to manufacturing-based."

The opening scene shows Paul waking up in the morning drunk after what appears to be a very crazy night... his hotel room is a disaster. His was apparently drinking rum... and he doesn't ever stop drinking rum throughout the entire movie.

Johnny Depp is, of course, exceptional... though I am biased as he is my favorite actor of all time (except for anything Tim Burton, but that is another topic entirely). He managed to be a drunk character on screen without reminding me of Jack Sparrow. When Johnny Depp is Jack Sparrow, that is what he is... when he is Paul Kemp, he is Paul Kemp... and though they are both drunk, they are neither the same, nor identical... their only remote similarities are Johnny Depp's voice... which in my book, means that Johnny Depp is an amazing actor! End Johnny Depp rave...

Back to the Rum Diary... this movie received a 51% on Rotten Tomatoes, because, it well, does try to be thoughtful, but in the end... rambles... there's not exactly a clear ending. It goes here, it goes there.

Perhaps that it what it is like to be in a rum stupor?