The Breaking Point
Michael Curtiz, 1950
Score: B+
The Rum Diary
I’ll sit through half-assed dramatizations of Hunter S. Thompson’s drunken misadventures if they’re filtered through Terry Gilliam’s boundless imagination and weird sense of humor, though even then I won’t be happy about it. Take away Gilliam and count me the hell out. In The Rum Diary, adapted and directed by Bruce Robinson (Withnail and I), Johnny Depp reprises his role as Thompson’s alter ego, arriving in 1970 San Juan to write for its fledgling newspaper while struggling to find his voice as a novelist. He befriends the paper’s cheerfully profane photographer (Michael Rispoli), and gets involved in the schemes of a venal real estate magnate (Aaron Eckhart) and his beautiful girlfriend (Amber Heard). The movie is a string of vignettes, some mildly amusing (a frantic escape from some hostile locals in a miserable VW bug), others straight-up interminable (an acid trip that refuses to fucking end). This may simply be a matter of sensibility, but I just don’t find this sort of self-absorbed counterculture non-narrative interesting. My kingdom for some drama.
I got excited when it briefly looked like the movie would have a cynical edge: Depp resents his newspaper’s pandering to the vacationers and retirees who come to San Juan for the “bowling alleys and casinos,” but quickly attaches himself to the teat of their hotel-building enablers. The American dream, the film seems to suggest, has an underbelly that’s not so much seedy as soul-suckingly banal; everyone, including the alcoholic would-be novelist, just wants to be part of the “winning team.” But The Rum Diary has an unbecoming tendency to suddenly get self-righteous, and, in the final scenes, downright maudlin: Thompson sees the evils of capitalism and dedicates the rest of his career to fighting “bastards” everywhere. He maybe should have started with Giovanni Ribisi, who turns in the year’s most grating and ridiculous performance as a squeaky-voiced, strung-out caricature. Though at least it broke the monotony of this two-hour slog through an alcoholic wasteland.
-- Eugene Novikov
| Released: | 2011 |
|---|---|
| Genres: | Drama, Comedy |
| Starring: | Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Rispoli, Johnny Depp, Giovanni Ribisi |
| Directed by: | Bruce Robinson |
| Screenwriters: | Bruce Robinson |
| Rated: | R |
I do see your point in not liking the alter ego of Hunter S. Thompson. Paul wasn’t necessary.Also, it could have been much more edgy and intense, but i think “they” are going for a certain audience. People that simply enjoy a good story. It’s all about the money.
I remember going to the movie theaters with my dad to see Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and it was almost empty. The three people that were there besides me and my dad ended up leaving during the movie. I couldn’t believe it.
This way it will attract the Hunter S. Thompson fans and people like my ma who dislike movies with recreational drug use in it.
I do see your point in not liking the alter ego of Hunter S. Thompson. Paul wasn’t necessary.Also, it could have been much more edgy and intense, but i think “they” are going for a certain audience. People that simply enjoy a good story. It’s all about the money.
I remember going to the movie theaters with my dad to see Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and it was almost empty. The three people that were there besides me and my dad ended up leaving during the movie. I couldn’t believe it.
This way it will attract the Hunter S. Thompson fans and people like my ma who dislike movies with recreational drug use in it.
It explained a lot about how Hunter discovered what kind of writer he wanted to be and most importantly whose side to be on. The movie explained why he began to fight for his beliefs and put it in his Gonzo style journalism.It was a crucial starting point in his career and who he developed to be.
Plus Johnny Depp plays an excellent Hunter and Amber Heard was super hot.