This movie made me want to move to Seattle, get a job, a fake ID and drink my life away.
“The Rum Diary” follows American journalist Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) as he moves to Puerto Rico to start a new job as a freelance writer for the local newspaper, the San Juan Star.
However, Kemp does not realize what he is walking into. Before too long Kemp is faced with the harsh reality of Puerto Rican life. Puerto Rico, an American colony, is taken over by greed. Hotels are being built on untouched islands, corporations control judges and cops while the native people are left in poverty.
The most obvious conflict in “The Rum Diary” is between Kemp, Chenault (Amber Heard), and Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart). These three characters fall into a wild mess of big money, big lust, and bold love. Sanderson is a corrupt businessman or, more simply put, a crook. Sanderson hires Kemp for help in his plot to create a chain of hotels on an uninhabited island near Puerto Rico. Chenault is Sanderson’s girlfriend, a beautiful, wild, carefree woman with a taste for danger. Kemp’s love for Chenault causes complications between the powerful Sanderson and him, making for a heated, but refreshingly realistic conflict.
The more abstract conflict within the movie deals with what Kemp finds when he moves to Puerto Rico. Surrounded by dirt-poor natives, Kemp looks at the rich Sanderson, the rich tourists and the fancy hotels and can see the corruption crystal clear. Kemp begins an attempt to document the horrors he sees, but is constantly shot down by his editor Lotterman (Richard Jenkins).
The opening scene doesn’t do immediate justice to the title of the movie. Kemp wakes up in a hotel room that, by the looks of it, should belong to a rock star. He painfully climbs out of his bed and pulls back the blinds. Light floods in and you see him squinting his blood-shot eyes, giving the sense that no less than half of Kemp’s day has been wasted. Room service arrives and there is a humorous scene as Kemp sits, rather nonchalant, on his bed, chewing up enormous amounts of aspirin, while examining the two poached eggs brought by the hotel server. Meanwhile the hotel server stands shocked by the condition of the room.
The condition of Puerto Rico is shown near the beginning of the movie. Kemp is walking down a main street of San Juan toward his new place of work, but with some trouble. He has found the city in riot, with police arresting citizens left and right as they vandalize and run wild. As he enters the San Juan Star news building, a piece of fruit smashes on the closed doors, perhaps a foreshadowing of the negative emotions toward the newspaper.
As the movie progresses, Kemp seems to quickly find his bearings in Puerto Rico. He quickly gains a friend Sala (Michael Rispoli), a photographer for the newspaper, who offers him a room in a rather shabby studio-like apartment, and adopts the rum-soaked lifestyle that seems to be Puerto Rico.
“The Rum Diary” is the third film based on the journal entries of famed gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, where “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” and “Where the Buffalo Roam” also originated. “The Rum Diary” carries many of the same elements of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” especially with Depp acting as Thompson. There is a scene where Sala and Kemp take a narcotic so powerful that it is used on “communists.” Certain elements of Depp’s character during the scene seemed eerily close to that of the Depp’s character in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”
“The Rum Diary” shows depth to human character well, while providing witty and humorous situations, as well as some seriously heavy concepts. Final verdict: two thumbs up.
Opinions expressed in editorial and opinion articles are the views of individual NIC students. These views do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Sentinel, North Idaho College, or any other organizations or groups there-in. North Idaho College is not responsible for the accuracy of statements or opinions shared.
tween moon
December 5, 2011 at 9:28 pm
knot interesting to see how one writes about a movie they do knot seem to have the ability to see.
Katie
December 6, 2011 at 10:56 pm
knot? NOT sure what it is you’re trying to say here. Are you implying that the writer did not see the film? I described it pretty accurately, I think. It was a very enjoyable and yet thought provoking film. It’s clear from the film that Puerto Rico is where Hunter found his rage. I loved it.
Flo
December 8, 2011 at 2:03 pm
I totally agree with the writer of this article. This is a fairly accurate description of the movie. I found this film very enjoyable and also felt this could have been the beginning of Hunter’s rage.
I loved it too and am anxiously awaiting the release of the DVD.