Oh, Johnny...
Oh, oh, Johnny...
He never ages, our Johnny. Yet, with time, he sure does pick the wrong movies (The Tourist, anyone?). But, yeah - I know what he was thinking with this one: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas made him an icon, here's another novel by Hunter S. Thompson so just substitute hallucinogenic drugs with rum, Las Vegas with Puerto Rico, 70's with 50's and it's a wrap. What could possibly go wrong?
The script, of course. There are loose interpretations of books made into movies and there are very loose ones. This one is very, very loose (suffice it to say, one of the major characters from the book is not even mentioned in this movie).
And once I rewind it all, what exactly is the plot here? I know what it should be, clearly, but the jury is still out on what it actually is. Here and there, you catch a glimpse of Las Vegas and Benicio Del Toro but, mostly, you don't.
Johnny is always a marvel to look at - but not for an hour and a half. Now, I could ennumerate other actors but what's the point? It's not like you're gonna go watch it.
And to spice it all up, The Rum Diary has one of the worst movie endings in the last 30 years of film-making. Absolute rubbish.
5 out of 10.
