virag's movie reviews: the rum diary (2011)

the rum diary was a total surprise.  going in, i had no idea what a softhearted trifle johnny depp's labor of love would be.  i mean, it is hunter s. thompson after all, so if you had crafted your love letter in the style of your dear friend, the result should have been engaging and interesting.  casting in this wreck was very uneven.  giovanni ribisi and michael rispoli were excellent.  i'm not sure what ribisi was doing should be called acting in the purest sense of the word, but he turned in an entertaining performance that never quite became annoying.  rispoli's work held the film together; this could have been yet another time when some fool cast paul giamatti in this sort of role only to once again have giamatti destroy the film with his shameless, jackleg presence.  instead, rispoli was clearly an inspired choice, bringing real humanity to the film.  on the other hand, i had high, high hopes for amber heard in this film, absolutely none of which were fulfilled.  she's quickly proving she's as wooden and useless as january jones.  i was really expecting more, certainly different, from the rum diary as well given not only the source material but also the 50 years of the hunter s. thompson published and public experience.  perhaps depp was just too close to the author.