The Rum Diary

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I have mentioned in the past that Mrs. Salad loooves her Johnny Depp. This weekend was a Depp double feature. Which worked out better for Mrs. Salad than I.

In this entry, Mr. Depp plays "Kemp", an alcoholic journalist who's wangled a job on a Puerto Rican newspaper in the 60s. Before long Kemp is involved with colorful characters: Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), a rich corrupt plutocrat involved with the island's economic exploitation; Chenault (Amber Heard), Sanderson's fun-loving beautiful girlfriend; Moeburg (Giovanni Ribisi), a reporter even more devoted to substance abuse that Kemp; Lotterman (the great Richard Jenkins), the newspaper's craven editor; Sala (Michael Rispoli), Kemp's co-worker and roomie.

Everyone gets into various hijinks, mostly driven by the fact that just about every single character is an irredeemable asshat. Kemp develops a social conscience at some point, adding stridency to his other unpleasant qualities. Not my cup of tea.

It's based on a novel by Hunter S. Thompson. Thompson had a league of influential fans, who were barely discouraged by his suicide. Like Depp, who was instrumental in getting the novel published and this movie made. I never got the appeal.


Last Modified 2024-01-28 7:51 AM EDT