DVD: The Rum Diary (15)

 

Ben Walsh
Friday 09 March 2012 01:00 GMT
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Johnny Depp plays a hedonistic journalist in Bruce Robinson's adaptation of Hunter S Thompson's debut novel.

The Rum Diary should have been a blast; instead this overlong drama, set in 1960s Puerto Rico, is a bit of a damp squib. The wobbly plot centres on heavy drinker Paul Kemp (Depp), a freelance hack working on an ailing newspaper. The paper needs "fresh blood" and less shady reporters, but Kemp is corrupted by Aaron Eckhart's real-estate villain. The film meanders along without much purpose, but it is blessed with some snappy dialogue and compelling turns from Jenkins and Giovanni Ribisi as a deranged correspondent.

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