[Editor's Note: Ok, I blew this one. Anthony had this review in late last Friday and I never got around to posting it. With my apologies to the author, I present the CL review of The Rum Diary …]
Bruce Robinson's (Withnail & I) long awaited adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's The Rum Diary opens promisingly. We follow Thompson stand-in Kemp (Johnny Depp), a journalist and failed novelist, as he deals with a crushing hangover while stumbling through his first day of work at a declining Puerto Rico paper. From this opening, I expected an intoxicated and bizarre first-person account of a great writer's coming of age, the unexpected sights and sounds of an exotic land in turmoil, and a battle against a corrupt businessmen — all while still having an immoral and debauched good time.
Unfortunately, Rum Diary the film falls back on every coming-of-age comedy cliche in the book. Kemp makes other quirky alcoholic friends (played by Michael Rispoli and Giovanni Ribisi) and is entranced by a bombshell party girl (the gorgeous Amber Heard) on his journey. Then there's the drug-trip gone awry and silly car chases. If you were to classify the film, it would likely fall into the Harold and Kumar genre rather than acclaimed literary adaptation.
This article appears in Nov 3-9, 2011.