The Rum Diary
United States
2011
120 Min
Color
1.85:1
English, Spanish
Synopsis
Eager to flee his humdrum life in 1950s New York, booze-loving journalist Paul (Johnny Depp) moves to Puerto Rico and begins writing for a local rag, but his life becomes unhinged when he falls for a gorgeous woman (Amber Heard) and clashes with her shifty fiancé (Aaron Eckhart). Written and directed by Bruce Robinson, this adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s early novel also stars Richard Jenkins as Paul’s editor.
Director
Bruce Robinson
Bruce Robinson is perhaps best known for having penned the award-winning script to the powerful exposé The Killing Fields (1984), but he is also a former actor and a director. He received training in drama at London’s School of Speech and Drama and made his first screen appearance in Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet (1968). After an undistinguished decade as a thespian, Robinson became an author and screenwriter. He became a director a decade after that with the autobiographical ensemble comedy Whithnail & I (1987), the story of two aspiring actors in 1969. —allmovie guide
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Shane Winter
3Mar13
I enjoyed majority of the film. Obviously, when the source material is Hunter Thompson and Depp is playing Thompson's alter ego Paul Kemp, it's going to be compelling in some manner. Unfortunately, I was extremely underwhelmed by the final third of the film. The Frankie Miller song over the end credits was an excellent treat, but overall the film just didn't have the cojones of Hunter's writing.
MS1915
17Jan13
As I see it, the story was good a good one, it held a solid structure and had the acting to back it up. I also admire Johnny Depp as as artist and an actor and I believe he really brought something to this film. However I found some of the camera work to be flawed, the plot a bit confused, and the ending...unfinished and unresolved. I believe this had a lot of potential, but failed to meet its mark.
Ed Benn and Madeleine Elster like this
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Bruce Robinson's (and Johnny Depp's) "The Rum Diary"
By David Hudson on October 27, 2011
The stories behind both the novel and the film sound more engaging than the “passion-project homage” itself.
Blu-ray Review: THE RUM DIARY Is Watered-Down Hunter S. Thompson
By Twitchfilm.com on February 15, 2012
Writer-director Bruce Robinson’s adaptation of The Rum Diary isn’t a particularly good movie, but then I’m not really sure it had a whole lot of a chance. Based on an early novel by journalist/brilliant
THE RUM DIARY Review
By Twitchfilm.com on October 28, 2011
Patently odd and subtle British filmmaker Bruce Robinson (“Withnail & I”) emerges from mothballs for “The Rum Diary”, a charmless and tired adaptation of the first published novel by the infamous and renowned
A Lustful Amber Heard and A Really Long Tongue in New Clips from THE RUM DIARY
By Twitchfilm.com on October 21, 2011
Yes that’s Amber Heard from All the Boys Love Mandy Lane starring alongside Johnny Depp in Bruce Robinson’s adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s The Rum Diary. Yes she looks really, really good. Check out
Two New Clips from THE RUM DIARY
By Twitchfilm.com on October 12, 2011
Everyone loves a little Johnny Depp playing unhinged and The Rum Diary gives him another go around as with the very unhinged work of Hunter S. Thompson. Based on Thompson’s first novel, Depp plays Paul
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Yo ho ho, and a bottle of rum
By Dzimas on March 19, 2012
If you’re into Men’s Adventure magazines you might enjoy this film, as it seems to play almost exclusively to male reveries… read review
Flow rum, flow...
By Konrad Szlendak on February 17, 2012
It took a bit for Johnny Depp to wrap up and screen this personal tribute to his great friend – Hunter S. Thompson, but it proved to be worth his while. Despite market odds and endless postponement… read review
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Wide Release Films For October 28, 2011
26 posts by 13 people
over 1 year ago