THE RUM DIARY

November 5, 2011

 Greetings again from the darkness. I suppose we are to give Hunter S Thompson the benefit of the doubt. Some of his writings are historically invaluable and models of brilliant writing. I doubt many would include The Rum Diary in that category. Director Bruce Robinson (Jennifer Eight, Withnail and I) does the best he can with enormous help from Thompson’s friend and biggest cheerleader, Johnny Depp.

The film plays as an autobiography supposing Thompson’s character Paul Kemp (Depp) would have been employed in 1960 at the San Juan Puerto Rico STAR, a newspaper run by English speaking Americans trying to report in Spanish speaking land. The editor is Lotterman (Richard Jenkins) who just wants simple human interest stories that the tourists will enjoy. When Kemp arrives, Lotterman asks him what kind of drinker he is. Kemp replies “the high end of social“. A greater understatement may never have been uttered. Kemp, and of course, the real life Thompson, ingested liquor at a pace and volume greater than a marathoner takes in water.

 Kemp finds a drinking buddy in Sala (Michael Rispoli) who is the paper’s photographer. He is drawn into a shady land development plot by Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), an American looking to capitalize financially by raping the undeveloped beach front land. He needs the help of Kemp to “sell” the project to investors, tourists and locals. Not surprisingly, Kemp’s vision is a bit cloudy and he screws this up while also turning the head of Sanderson’s lady, Chenault (Amber Heard).  All the while, a shady, oddball figure played by Giovanni Ribisi is ALWAYS around.  Ribisi’s character is the guy who, if in prison, other inmates would come to for “supplies”.  Somehow, though, this character is free to roam about San Juan.

 Depp does a standout job as Thompson again (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) with his speech pattern and ever present sunglasses. The feel of the 1960’s is on display with fashion and autos, but this one just didn’t do it for me. I suppose the message from Thompson here is that he did what he always envisioned himself doing … he went hard after the establishment bad guys and brought them down hard. However, this story rings a bit hollow and there are just too many missing pieces and too many holes.

SEE THIS MOVIE IF: you never miss anything with Johnny Depp or written by Hunter S Thompson … there is really no other reason.

SKIP THIS MOVIE IF: you are looking for a real introduction to the Gonzo Journalism that Hunter S Thompson was best at

watch the trailer:

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Posted by David Ferguson

EAT PRAY LOVE (2010)

August 22, 2010

 Greetings again from the darkness. Though I secretly hoped the tongue-in-cheek comparison of this movie to The Expendables would get me off the hook from writing what I really thought, some of you have requested full comments.  The reason I avoided putting any comments down about the film version of Elizabeth Gilbert’s best selling novel was honestly that the movie just really annoyed and even angered me … and my reasons aren’t very politically correct.

Julia Roberts stars as a woman who is on a mission to find meaning for her life. “Logically”, the route to self-discovery is a one year sabbatical with 4 month stints in Italy, India and Bali. Already, I am irritated … Rarely does one need to GO somewhere to FIND their self. If this were necessary, the world would be even a more screwed up place because “dropping out” for a year means we leave our responsibilities, friends and loved ones behind.

Speaking of loved ones. Julia’s character is on a mission to prove she has worth beyond that derived from being partner to a man. So here is her track record over the 2 and a half hours: She dumps her husband who loves her. She dumps the boy toy whose bed she immediately fell into after the divorce. She spurns her Italian interpreter and a lonely Texan and finds herself on a beach with a naked party boy. She spurns Javier Bardem … at least until she reconsiders and realizes that this is JAVIER BARDEM! For someone trying so hard to prove a man isn’t necessary, she spends an inordinate amount of time WITH men.

I realize this was an Oprah-blessed book, but the amount of whining, self-indulgence and narcissism was beyond my tolerance level. Even the choice of director seems pre-fab: Ryan Murphy of “Glee” fame. Talk about going with the flavor of the day.

Caught in the web of thankless supporting roles were Billy Crudup, James Franco, Richard Jenkins, Viola Davis and Hadi Subiyanto as Ketut, the toothless guru. This guru reads Julia’s palm and she immediately decides to throw away  her life. When they meet again, this guru doesn’t even remember her! Seriously, you don’t need a guru to tell you to follow the golden rule, that if you give love it will come back to you, and make some time for yourself.

OK, I will admit the film captured the beauty of Italy and Bali. And the music mixture of Neil Young and Mozart (The Magic Flute) helped ease my pain. But overall, this was a year long journey and I felt every single moment sitting in that theatre.

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Posted by David Ferguson

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