Latest Depp film a disappointment
Published on Wed, Mar 7, 2012 by Bob ConnallyRead More Arts & Entertainment
"The Rum Diary"
(R, Now avail.)
Bruce Robinson's 1987 cult British comedy "Withnail and I" is my favorite film of all-time. Featuring brilliant performances and some of the greatest dialogue ever written, it demonstrates that plot is not essential to making a great film. Unfortunately for Robinson, making it proved emotionally and financially taxing and, when he made his first Hollywood film in 1992 ("Jennifer 8"), the experience was so unbearable that he left filmmaking completely. Nineteen years later he's back with material that sounds perfectly suited for him, an adaptation of a Hunter S. Thompson novel.
It's 1960 and Thompson's alter ego, Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) is an aspiring novelist going to Puerto Rico to make his first foray into journalism. There's civil unrest just outside the doors of the San Juan Star but the paper's top man, Lotterman (Richard Jenkins) wants to keep the focus on what makes tourists feel good about the island. The paper's advertising revenue and thus its very existence depends on it.
"There's an ocean of money out there," says Hal Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), one of the Star's main benefactors. Sanderson hopes to convince Kemp to write a series of articles that will portray his business interests in a positive light and help pave the way for further hotel expansion. Kemp learns quickly how devastating this would be to the local population and finds himself in the middle of a sticky ethical situation. Matters are complicated further when he meets Sanderson's young girlfriend, Chenault (Amber Heard).
Like "Withnail," "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (which also starred Depp as Thompson) was content to meander along with its characters with little plot but a great story being told subtly beneath the surface. "The Rum Diary," however, seems to want to meander one minute and push its plot ahead the next. It's one thing for the film's central character to feel confused and muddled, especially at this point in his life. It's a problem though when the film itself is.
"The Rum Diary" not only portrays its protagonist in a state of becoming a drinker/addict, it also shows him still in search of his voice as a writer. This could have been a fascinating examination of how Thompson became Thompson but, like virtually every other element of this movie, it goes largely unexplored.
This element also highlights two of the film's most glaring faults. Thompson and Robinson each have distinct and powerful voices but neither of them comes across here. They're both lost.
The second problem is Depp. The character should have been played by an actor half his age. It's difficult to believe a man in his mid to late 40s playing an aspiring writer who's just starting out in the world. But being that Depp (a well-known friend of Thompson) was the driving force in getting the film made and that he hand-picked Robinson to helm it, who was going to tell him he wasn't right for the part anymore?
"The Rum Diary" is a disappointment for fans of everyone involved. 4/10.
(R, Now avail.)
Bruce Robinson's 1987 cult British comedy "Withnail and I" is my favorite film of all-time. Featuring brilliant performances and some of the greatest dialogue ever written, it demonstrates that plot is not essential to making a great film. Unfortunately for Robinson, making it proved emotionally and financially taxing and, when he made his first Hollywood film in 1992 ("Jennifer 8"), the experience was so unbearable that he left filmmaking completely. Nineteen years later he's back with material that sounds perfectly suited for him, an adaptation of a Hunter S. Thompson novel.
It's 1960 and Thompson's alter ego, Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) is an aspiring novelist going to Puerto Rico to make his first foray into journalism. There's civil unrest just outside the doors of the San Juan Star but the paper's top man, Lotterman (Richard Jenkins) wants to keep the focus on what makes tourists feel good about the island. The paper's advertising revenue and thus its very existence depends on it.
"There's an ocean of money out there," says Hal Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), one of the Star's main benefactors. Sanderson hopes to convince Kemp to write a series of articles that will portray his business interests in a positive light and help pave the way for further hotel expansion. Kemp learns quickly how devastating this would be to the local population and finds himself in the middle of a sticky ethical situation. Matters are complicated further when he meets Sanderson's young girlfriend, Chenault (Amber Heard).
Like "Withnail," "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (which also starred Depp as Thompson) was content to meander along with its characters with little plot but a great story being told subtly beneath the surface. "The Rum Diary," however, seems to want to meander one minute and push its plot ahead the next. It's one thing for the film's central character to feel confused and muddled, especially at this point in his life. It's a problem though when the film itself is.
"The Rum Diary" not only portrays its protagonist in a state of becoming a drinker/addict, it also shows him still in search of his voice as a writer. This could have been a fascinating examination of how Thompson became Thompson but, like virtually every other element of this movie, it goes largely unexplored.
This element also highlights two of the film's most glaring faults. Thompson and Robinson each have distinct and powerful voices but neither of them comes across here. They're both lost.
The second problem is Depp. The character should have been played by an actor half his age. It's difficult to believe a man in his mid to late 40s playing an aspiring writer who's just starting out in the world. But being that Depp (a well-known friend of Thompson) was the driving force in getting the film made and that he hand-picked Robinson to helm it, who was going to tell him he wasn't right for the part anymore?
"The Rum Diary" is a disappointment for fans of everyone involved. 4/10.
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