Review of The Rum Diary (2011) by David B — 23 Apr 2013
Bruce Robinson's first movie since the disaster of Jennifer Eight. The trailer suggests a throwback to his Withnail days, and there are certainly parallels with that grimy masterpiece. Unlike Withnail & I, this film has deeper concerns.
It's a condemnation of American intervention in Central America at the beginning of the Cold War, and the corruption of big business. Depp, now pushing 50, does a good job of conveying the wide-(and bleary)eyed innocence of a novice journalist, and I enjoyed the central conceit of a writer trying to find his own voice.
Kemp's ultimate impotence in the face of such corruption seems realistic, with captions at the end suggesting the fight was carried on elsewhere, but it does mean that the end comes as something of an anticlimax.
This review of The Rum Diary (2011) was written by David B on 23 Apr 2013.
The Rum Diary has generally received mixed reviews.
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