Starring Johnny Depp as Paul Kemp, The Rum Diary is based on Hunter S. Thompson’s novel of the same name, written when Thompson was in his 20s and living inSan Juan,Puerto Rico. Working as a journalist for various ragtag publications, Thompson hoped The Rum Diary would “in a twisted way . . . do forSan Juanwhat Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises did forParis.” What it in fact did was draw an entertaining portrait of love, jealousy, treachery, and alcoholic lust in aCaribbeanboomtown of the late 1950s. Drawn to a sexy, mysterious woman, American journalist Paul Kemp (Depp) finds himself in a world where anything (including murder) is permissible.
A dazzling romp, The Rum Diary is a madcap story of a young Thompson, a wild place and a crazy time.
