The Rum Diary

The Rum Diary is a labor of love for star Johnny Depp. He also produced this film and dedicated it to his friend, author Hunter S. Thompson. The two Louisville, Kentucky natives became close when Depp was hanging with Thompson in preparation for Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. The Rum Diary is the first book Thompson wrote but it wasn't published until long after he became famous. When the book was finally published I approached it with some trepidation. A heralded author's unpublished early books are usually unpublished for a good reason, but that was not the case with The Rum Diary. This book fit well into Thompson's literary canon and while it isn’t his best work you can clearly see the seeds of his style sprouting in his first novel.

Depp chose Bruce Robinson to adapt and direct the film and he is an ideal choice. Robinson made the legendary, Thompson-esque Withnail & I as well as How To Get Ahead In Advertising. Since then he has been largely absent from the film world. Robinson’s adaptation has retained the humor and wit of Thompson’s novel while bringing many of the books best episodes and dialogue to raucous life on the screen.

Depp plays Paul Kemp, a fictionalized version of the young Thompson. A budding journalist with a rough attitude and a penchant for booze, Kemp has just arrived in 1960s San Juan, Puerto Rico for job at an English-language newspaper. After an unconventional job interview with the publisher - when asked how much he drinks, Kemp answers “The high end of social” - Kemp begins his expat misadventures.

Filmed on location, cinematographer Dariusz Wolski's camera shows the beauty of San Juan’s beaches, water and palm trees along with the grittiness of the living conditions for the island’s poorest inhabitants. The movie looks gorgeous and, despite what decadent action may take place, is a picture postcard for Puerto Rico. The art department also shines in recreating the 1960s with period island fashions, sets and shiny American automobiles.

Beyond this beautiful surface the film is a story of how Kemp is pulled between the temptation of easy money and beautiful women and the idealism of exposing the truth about corruption and the exploitation of Puerto Rico. Kemp is seduced by Sanderson, a slick PR man for local developers who wants to use Kemp to push his agenda through stories in the newspaper. Even more of a lure for Kemp than the money is Sanderson’s sexy girlfriend, Chenault. Chenault is an unattainable tease who stays frustratingly outside of Kemp’s grasp.

Along the way he meets other down-and-out newspaper men and some certifiable lunatics that add humor and eccentricity to the story. Fellow journalist Sala becomes his closest ally and in the film’s funniest moment they have to race drunkenly in their car to get away from angry locals only to speed directly into the police. This scene and its aftermath is pleasantly reminiscent of the classic drunk driving and sobriety test scenes in Robinson’s Withnail & I

Throughout it all, Kemp seems more of an observer than a participant in this story. Unlike the Thompson character in Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas who was the wild whirlwind of the storm, Kemp is the calm eye of the hurricane as the storm swirls around him. Like Thompson at the time he wrote this novel, Kemp is a young writer watching the world and attempting to find his own voice within that world. Depp proves just as adept at playing the observer Kemp as he was playing the manic character in Fear & Loathing. In each portrayal Depp uses his spot-on imitation of Thompson’s mumble to perfect comedic effect.

Of course, if you are a fan of Thompson’s writing you know that Kemp will choose to take on authority and battle for truth rather than take the money and run. The craziness ratchets up as Kemp and his crew attempt to fight the system by finding a way to publish the truth about the corruption in Puerto Rico. Although they fail in the end, Kemp has found his voice and chosen the path he will follow in life. He is casting his lot with idealism and truth over cynicism and greed. In the long run, this single battle isn’t important because the young Kemp has chosen to use his talents to fight the long war. It doesn’t hurt that he also gets the girl.

Robinson’s script and Depp’s brilliant portrayal make The Rum Diary a fitting memorial to Thompson. The humor and the sun drenched, rum soaked local add a unique flavor to the age old tale of a young, rebellious artist coming of age. Available on Blu-Ray, DVD and multiple streaming services.

O Lucky Man!

Lindsay Anderson's semi-sequel to the brilliant If.... is a satiracle poke in the eye of capitalism. O Lucky Man! (1973) takes the piss out of all the Horatio Alger, Protestant work ethic fables that are foisted upon the public as examples of how to become successful. The film's style often has more in common with Monty Python than with If... but the satire does have many of the same sharp edges of Anderson's previous film.

The great Malcolm McDowell once again plays the anti-hero Mick Travis. Here, Mick is a bright-eyed and energetic young sales trainee at a coffee company. Mick is confident that if he works hard at his profession he will be successful. O Lucky Man! is the picaresque tale of Mick's adventures on a very bumpy road to attain that success. Each episode of the film presents him with more challenges that may or may not erode his optimism, although the audience surely leaves with little faith in society and humanity. The film as a whole brings to my mind what Anderson once suggested for his epitaph: "Surrounded by fucking idiots."

The episodic structure of the film allows Anderson to satirize different aspects of society along Mick's journey. His travels provide ample opportunity to mock the absurdities of the chauvenistic, good old chap business culture, corrupt law enforcement, government control and conspiracies, and the military industrial complex. However, this episodic nature is also the film's major weakness. While each scene is played with a wit and it's satirical marks are deserving of ridicule, there is no central story or narrative to keep the audience involved in the film. If Anderson were as gifted a comedian as the previously mentioned Monty Python troupe, the humor and satire would be enough to keep us moving along on Mick's adventures. Sadly, the satire, while enjoyable and trenchant, is not funny enough to hold an entire 2-plus hour movie together.

For all the troubles visited on Mick in his climb up the ladder of success, he seems to retain his faith in the capitalist system. He eventually meets an aristocrat and ingratiates himself into becoming his assistant. Even this turns out badly as the aristocrat is in the midst of an illegal arms deal and when the police break in on the meeting, Mick is made to be the fall guy and sent to prison. This provides Anderson with an opportunity to satirize the British penal system and its efforts at rehabilitation. Mick leaves with perhaps less optimism about finding financial success, but with a strong faith in humanity. Of course, even his new found humanism is put to the test when he attempts to help some of London's needy citizens and finds himself the victim of their theivery and wrath. The only thing that saves Mick is wandering into a casting call for a movie - one being filmed by Lindsay Anderson that looks very familiar.

Perhaps the most enjoyable element of the film for me was watching the young Malcolm McDowell in top form. Always a personal favorite and one of the best actors of the 60s and 70s, McDowell owns every scene in this film. Although he shares scenes with some giants of the British stage and screen (Ralph Richardson and Helen Mirren to name just two) McDowell is the character that you care about and that carries the film. His rougish charm and youthful energy bring what could be a cardboard character to life. It is enjoyable to see that same devilish look in Mick Travis' eyes that we saw from McDowell as the "reformed" Alex at the end of A Clockwork Orange. In fact, for me Mick Travis from If... and, to a lesser extent, O Lucky Man! is the character of Alex transplanted from the near-future to contemporary times.

Acting as a sort of Greek chorus, Alan Price (of "The Animals") provides vintage '70s pop music that makes an ironic commentary on the film's action. O Lucky Man! is very much a product of the early '70s, not only with Price's songs but with its loose, episodic structure, unapologetic socialism, and wild, careening cinematic style. As a slice of early '70s nostalgia and a stinging social commentary it is enjoyable, but as a cohesive piece of cinema it is much less successful. Still worth a viewing particularly if you have never seen this hard to find film. It should be mandatory viewing as part of any MBA degree in order to provide a little dose of reality and honesty to the pro-business ciriculum. Available as a 2-disc special edition DVD from Warner Brothers.