The Rum Diary

The Rum Diary is a 2011 film based on the novel of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson. It`s written and directed by Bruce Robinson and the lead role of Paul Kemp is played by Johnny Depp.
The film takes the audience way back to 1960`s when an unestablished novelist Paul Kemp travels from New York to Puerto Rico to get a job writing for a local newspaper, The San Juan Star. In his new office he meets some colorful persons. Even ends up living with one after his new boss doesn`t agree to pay for his hotel room anymore because Paul has made a gigantic bill sucking dry a lot of those small bottles of alcoholic beverages. Although, he begins the habit of drinking a lot of rum, he tries to write proper articles and be a good journalist. His faithfulness to true journalism however is put to the test when a crooked real estate developer, Hal Sanderson, wants to involve him on his manipulative plan for getting permissions to start building hotels on a rather untouched island. Things get even more spiced up as Paul falls in love with Sanderson`s fiancée.
It`s an amusing story with a lot of interesting characters and plenty of amusing incidents. Johnny Depp, to who it was not the first time to play a Hunter S. Thompson`s character, did an excellent job playing Paul Kemp. Paul Kemp`s love interest was played by Amber Heard. Her role did not take much of an effort. She just had to look naturally stunning like she does, and wear vivid red lipstick. And oh boy, she wore that lipstick alright! Aaron Eckhart played the role of the crooked real estate developer. And he is perfect for the role. His smile and literally everything about him, makes him perfect for playing roles like this. Michael Rispoli played the role of Pauls best friend and roommate, Bob Sala. He also added a lot to the movie as he was this carefree guy who watched his neighbour`s TV with binoculars, saying that he almost owns a TV. He had a smile on his face even in the most crappiest circumstances.
I must say I was rather pleased with this movie. For one, I really liked the full 1960`s Puerto Rico theme. And it was well brought out. It`s a definitely a great film. And IMDB`s score of 6.5 points out of 10 for this one, really seems surprisingly low to me. What is wrong with people? And the tomatometer shows only 50% for this one. Well, I`d give it 7.5 out of 10. I`d give it more but I found the ending a little hasty. It felt as if they had forgotten themselves filming too many good scenes they wanted to keep in the move and therefore had to make the ending quick, so they could still fit in a previously set time. But it`s still definitely worth a watch!