"They raped him to death?"

In my mind there is no one better, to play a Hunter S. Thompson character, than Johnny Depp. In Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, he did a wonderfully hilarious job and in his latest film, The Rum Diary, he shows why he was chosen to portray a second Hunter S. Thompson character.
The movie starts off with Paul Kemp (Depp) waking up, in a hotel room, in Puerto Rico. It is easy to tell that he is hungover and most likely an alcoholic, by the way he looks and the state of his room. He is in Puerto Rico to take a freelance job at the local paper. He meets Bob Sala (Michael Rispoli) and Lotterman (Richard Jenkins), who is the Editor in Chief. He get's the job and is told to write stories on tourist things like bowling and slots. Kemp soon moves in with Sala and finds out that the crazy and always drunk Moberg (Giovanni Ribisi), lives there as well. He also runs into Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), who is in PR work and owns a lot of land on Puerto Rico. Sanderson wants Kemp to write for him, a few articles on the hotels they plan to build, on the island that has recently come up for sale.
Kemp falls for Sanderson's girlfriend Chenault (Amber Heard) and has to hide this, during meetings with Sanderson and his associates.
During all his reporting and writing, Kemp, Sala and Moberg go on drunken adventures. Some dealing with a car chase that ends up with Sala and Kemp getting arrested. Others involve cock fighting, a hermaphroditic witch doctor and a hallucinogenic drug.
Before the 3 of them know it, the paper is being shut down and they are all out of a job. They try one last scheme, so they can make enough money to put one last paper out!
This movie has a bit of everything. There's some drama, romance and a ton of comedy. While it doesn't come close to the greatness of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, it is still a funny and interesting movie to watch.
Johnny Depp is great, as always, his portrayal of Thompson characters is always near perfect and he can always make you laugh with his zaniness. The way he uses his voice and expressions when being these types of characters, is hilarious.
Giovanni Ribisi was also awesome. His drunken, crazy and outspoken Moberg character worked perfectly and was some of the best acting he's ever done. In this movie he might have even done a better job than Depp did. Two well done performances.
The Dvd which I just bought on Tuesday, is a fairly normal Dvd. The front is a picture of Depp awaking in his hotel room and looking very puzzled. There are 2 reviews on the Dvd. "Sublime!," says Tim Grierson from Screendaily and "Hilarious, Sexy and Intoxicatlingly Entertaining," says David Noh from Film Journal International. The Rum Diary was released in 2011 and directed by Bruce Robinson. Released by GK Films, Infinitum, Film Engine and Entertainment One.

Collection#:
The Rum Diary: #554