SeanFromCanada's Blog

I sat with an already formed love for the movie I would soon see.  Hunter S. Thompson is my favorite author.  Johnny Depp is my favorite actor.  It’s a journey through highs and lows.  It’s about a writer trying to get to his first novel…this movie was made for me.

Johnny Depp was brilliant, as per usual.  He personified the character of Paul Kemp, exactly as Thompson wrote him.  The deep connection that existed between Depp and Thompson demonstrated in spades.  In watching Depp, you hear Hunter.  As Hunter consumes, you see Kemp stagger.  As Kemp makes his stand, you can feel Hunter’s strength.  You can see them all, beautifully.

Depp’s pace and ability for expression personifies Hunter’s observations.  The movie was hilarious and frightening, just as the consumptive read was.  I laughed, twisted and saw the fear through the journey.  An artistic success, I’d have to say.

The sound track was purposeful and skillfully placed.  The artists who wrapped themselves around this movie certainly understood its style, and had the ability to deliver.

The supporting cast is really good.  They are great actors, all of whom connected with the characters they played.  I love when the entire cast adds to the movie – every person contributing to every scene.

The movie is funny – hilarious at times.  There were many bizarre Thompson style scenes – conversational disconnects, absurd plans, excesses, paranoid conspiracies…  Consistent with the book, every line of the script purposeful in it’s language.  Some of the scenes connect you immediately back to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.  This gives the Rum Diary great ability to leverage our familiarity with Fear and Loathing, making the movie funnier, and better, without the need to add film.

And then it was.  As Kemp sails off the island in the yacht he just stole, I felt exactly as I knew I would – kind of flat. When I saw that The Rum Diary was being made, I applauded the people investing.  Obviously this movie was not going to connect with ‘mainstream audiences’.  The ending isn’t happy enough, the topic isn’t A to B enough.  The energy simply isn’t positive enough.

But it’s a great film.  The last image of the movie pays tribute to one of the reasons why.  It’s a black and white photo of Hunter.  He’s sitting on a chair on a little patio in Puerto Rico.  His feet are up, shirt off, rum in hand.  He’s writing.

It was really great to see him…