The Rum Diary (film)

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The Rum Diary

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Bruce Robinson
Produced by Johnny Depp
Graham King
Christi Dembrowski
Anthony Rhulen
Robert Kravis
Screenplay by Bruce Robinson
Based on The Rum Diary by
Hunter S. Thompson
Starring Johnny Depp
Aaron Eckhart
Michael Rispoli
Amber Heard
Richard Jenkins
Giovanni Ribisi
Music by Christopher Young
Cinematography Dariusz Wolski
Editing by Carol Littleton
Studio GK Films
Infinitum Nihil
Distributed by FilmDistrict[1]
Release date(s) October 28, 2011 (2011-10-28)
Running time 120 minutes[2]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $45 million[3]–$50 million[4]
Box office $23,947,544 [3]

The Rum Diary is a 2011 film based on the novel of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson. The film is written and directed by Bruce Robinson and stars Johnny Depp. Filming began in Puerto Rico in March 2009. It was released on October 28, 2011.[5] It marks Robinson's first film as director in nineteen years, his prior film being Jennifer 8, released in 1992.

Contents

[edit] Premise

Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) is an itinerant journalist who grows tired of New York and America under the Eisenhower administration and travels to Puerto Rico to write for The San Juan Star. Kemp begins the habit of drinking rum and becomes obsessed with a woman named Chenault (Amber Heard).[6]

[edit] Cast


[edit] Production

Johnny Depp in November 2011, at a premiere of the film in Paris

Hunter S. Thompson wrote the novel The Rum Diary in 1961, but it was not published until 1998.[8] The independent production companies Shooting Gallery and SPi Films sought to adapt the novel into a film in 2000, and after Bram Sheldon declined the role, actor Johnny Depp was signed to star and to serve as executive producer. Nick Nolte was also signed to star alongside Depp.[9] The project did not move past the development stage.[8] During this stage, the author became so frustrated as to fire off an obscenity-laden letter calling the process a "waterhead fuckaround".[10]

In 2002, a new producer sought the project, and Benicio del Toro and Josh Hartnett were signed to star in the film adaptation.[9] The second incarnation also did not move past the development stage.[8] In 2007, producer Graham King acquired all rights to the novel and sought to film the adaptation under Warner Independent Pictures.[9] Depp, who previously starred in the 1998 film adaptation of Thompson's novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, was cast as the freelance journalist Paul Kemp.[8] Amber Heard is reported to have won the role out over Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley. Bruce Robinson joined to write the screenplay and to direct The Rum Diary.[9] In 2009, Depp's production company Infinitum Nihil took on the project with the financial backing of King and his production company GK Films. Principal photography began in Puerto Rico on March 25, 2009.[6] Composer Christopher Young signed on to compose the film's soundtrack.[11]

Robinson had been sober for six-and-a-half years before he started writing the screenplay for The Rum Diary.[12] The filmmaker found himself suffering from writer's block. He started drinking again, a bottle of alcohol a day until he finished the script and then he quit drinking again. He spent a year filming in Puerto Rico, Mexico and Hollywood and resisted drinking until they arrived in Fajardo. Robinson remembers, "It was 100 degrees at two in the morning and very humid. Everyone's drenched in sweat. One of the prop guys goes by with a barrow-load of ice and Coronas. I said: 'Johnny, this doesn't mean anything.' And reached for a Corona. ... Some savage drinking took place. When I was no longer in Johnny's environment I went back to sobriety."[12]

[edit] Reception

The Rum Diary received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 51% of 140 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 5.7 out of 10. The website's consensus is, "It's colorful and amiable enough, and Depp's heart is clearly in the right place, but The Rum Diary fails to add sufficient focus to its rambling source material."[13] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 56 based on 37 reviews.[14] CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a "C" on an A+ to F scale.[15]

Wyatt Williams, writing for Creative Loafing, argues that "the movie version amounts to Thompson's whole vision of journalism, glossed and made plain by Hollywood." [16]

[edit] See also

Portal icon Films portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.deadline.com/2011/03/johnny-depps-second-hunter-thompson-pic-rum-diary-lands-at-filmdistrict
  2. ^ "The Rum Diary (15)". Bruce Robinson. British Board of Film Classification. http://www.bbfc.co.uk/AFF283707/. Retrieved 2011-10-13. 
  3. ^ a b "The Rum Diary (2011)". Box Office Mojo. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rumdiary.htm. Retrieved November 1, 2011. 
  4. ^ Kaufman, Amy (October 27, 2011). "Movie Projector: 'Puss in Boots' to stomp on competition". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/10/box-office-puss-in-boots-in-time-rum-diary.html. Retrieved October 27, 2011. 
  5. ^ "GK Films and Infinitum Nihil's The Rum Diary Lands at Filmdistrict". http://moviecitynews.com/2011/03/gk-films-and-infinitum-nihil%E2%80%99s-the-rum-diary-lands-at-filmdistrict. Retrieved March 23, 2011. 
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "The Rum Diary Now Filming". IGN. April 2, 2009. http://movies.ign.com/articles/969/969133p1.html. Retrieved April 2, 2009. 
  7. ^ Dodd, Stacy (April 1, 2009). "Michael Rispoli joins 'Rum Diary'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002014.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2564. 
  8. ^ a b c d Tilly, Chris (December 2007). "Depp opens 'Rum Diary'". Time Out. http://www.timeout.com/film/features/show-feature/3260/depp-opens-rum-diary.html. Retrieved April 2, 2009. 
  9. ^ a b c d Goldstein, Gregg (July 30, 2007). "Depp toasts Hunter S. Thompson with 'Rum Diary'". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN3035333320070730?feedType=RSS&rpc=22&sp=true. 
  10. ^ http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/09/okay-you-lazy-bitch.html
  11. ^ "Christopher Young to score The Rum Diary". MovieScore Magazine. October 9, 2009. http://moviescoremagazine.com/2009/10/christopher-young-to-score-the-rum-diary. Retrieved 2009-10-11. 
  12. ^ a b Chalmers, Robert (February 20, 2011). "Bruce Robinson: "I started drinking again because of The Rum Diary"". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/bruce-robinson-i-started-drinking-again-because-of-the-rum-diary-2216721.html. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
  13. ^ "The Rum Diary (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/The-Rum-Diary/. Retrieved November 7, 2011. 
  14. ^ "The Rum Diary Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-rum-diary. Retrieved November 7, 2011. 
  15. ^ Finke, Nikki (October 30, 2011). "Snow Ices Box Office: ‘Puss In Boots’ #1, ‘Paranormal’ #2, ‘In Time’ #3, ‘Rum Diary’ #4". Deadline.com. PMC. http://www.deadline.com/2011/10/first-box-office-puss-in-boots-1-paranormal-activity-3-2-in-time-3-footloose-4-the-rum-diary-5/#more-188635. Retrieved October 30, 2011. 
  16. ^ "A rum diary: Fear and self-loathing in the multiplex". Creative Loafing. http://clatl.com/atlanta/a-rum-diary-fear-and-self-loathing-in-the-multiplex/Content?oid=4173189. Retrieved October 30, 2011. 

[edit] External links

Films directed by Bruce Robinson
Novels
Short stories
Short story collections
Essay collections
The Gonzo Papers
Articles
Non-fiction
Film adaptations
Documentaries
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