This movie is good. I've read the book several times, and yes, there were changes made, but I still loved it. When transferring book to film, changes are always made. It's the awful truth, I know. People want to compare this film to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Guess what? It's not. AND, it's not supposed to be. I'm a Thompson fan, through and through. I've read his work for years. I think the characters were spot on. This movie isn't for people who just want to see Johnny Depp on screen, or those who want another film in the likes of Vegas. Ribisi was AMAZING to watch in this movie. I really loved it, can't wait to get my copy and add it to my collection.

Johnny Depp plays reporter Paul Kemp in Hunter S. Thompson's the Rum Diary. The movie borderlines on insanity as Kemp becomes drunk and drunker in a 1960s Puerto Rico. While not as manic as the other Hunter S Thompson films the Rum Diary has it's own narrative rhythm. Paul meets his eccentric coworkers, gets drunk, has crazy adventures, gets drunker etc. Johnny Depp's acting is good, one gets to see an interesting portrait of a writer trying to find his voice while he is trying to get plastered. There are undercurrents of Hunter S. Thompson present in Depp's portrayal of Kemp which starts bubbling to the surface near the end. there are funny antics going throughout the movie just not nearly as sporadic as the other two. all in all the movie is good and if you are a Johnny Depp fan Or a Hunter S. Thompson fan check this movie out and see if it can entertain you.

To appreciate the quality of this rambling little film that is actually based on an episode in the life of Hunter S. Thompson the following biographical information is helpful: `Hunter Stockton Thompson (1937 - 2005) was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary (published in1998), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971), Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 (1973), The Curse of Lono (1983), and Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (1966). He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to such a degree that they become central figures of their stories. He is known also for his lifelong use of alcohol, LSD, mescaline, and cocaine (among other substances); his love of firearms; his inveterate hatred of Richard Nixon; and his iconoclastic contempt for authoritarianism. In 1960 Thompson moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to take a job with the sporting magazine El Sportivo, which folded soon after his arrival. Thompson applied for a job with the Puerto Rico English-language daily The San Juan Star, but its managing editor, future novelist William J. Kennedy, turned him down. Nonetheless, the two became friends and after the demise of El Sportivo, Thompson worked as a stringer for the New York Herald Tribune and a few stateside papers on Caribbean issues with Kennedy working as his editor. While suffering a bout of health problems, he committed suicide in 2005 at the age of 67.'

In the film version of Thompson's autobiographical book, Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) is a freelance journalist who finds himself at a critical turning point in his life while writing for a run-down newspaper in the Caribbean under toupeed editor Lotterman (Richard Jenkins). He is accompanied by the staff photographer Sala (Michael Rispoli), the drunken staff writer Moberg (Giovanni Ribisi) in his discovery of the many wonders of Puerto Rico, not the least of which is a group of entrepreneurs lead by Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart) - who happens to be living with the stunning Chenault (Amber Heard) who Paul is attracted to - and a series of disreputable business men bent on `touristifyng' a neighboring island. Paul is a drunk and finds innumerable distractions and challenges as he tries to worm his way through the playing field of lost souls.

The story is Hunter S. Thompson all the way and Bruce Robinson has adapted Thompson's book in much the same way the novelist communicates: Robinson also directs. Depp, as usual, manages to make the strange lead character not only interesting but also ingratiating. The supporting cast is solid. The film gets off track many times, but as pure entertainment it is a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours watching Depp create another memorable character based on life! Grady Harp, February 12