RBR: The Rum Diary

You would think that adapting gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson's novel about an American journalist on a bender in Puerto Rico would make for a wild, thrilling film, but you would be wrong. This film, starring Johnny Depp as protagonist Paul Kemp aimlessly moves from one adventure to the next with no sense of direction or purpose. Along the way, we meet several unique characters including Kemp's editor (Richard Jenkins in a bad wig), a paranoid writer (Giovanni Ribisi), a slimy entrepreneur (the oily Aaron Eckhart) and his attractive girlfriend (Amber Heard). Kemp is down in Puerto Rico because that's the only place that will hire him to write. Of course, he still doesn't do much writing while down there as he's too busy boozing it up and causing trouble. I kept watching waiting for to understand the point of all this, but it never came. I was left feeling as if I inherited the hangover his character should have been suffering from. I understand Depp's affinity for Hunter S. Thompson (he played him in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), but even he couldn't make this material worthwhile. I'm not sure who the audience for this film is, and its box office numbers were indicative of that. Just like alcohol, the cast and story of this film may initially make it appealing to you, but if you actually go about consuming it, you'll regret it in the morning. Rating: **