Back when the trailer dropped for “The Rum Diary,” this writer (who has not read the book on which the film is based) got pilloried for daring to suggest that the boozy, Caribbean vacay vibe felt less adventurous than Terry Gilliam‘s “Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas.” “It’s way different than fear and loathing,” our commenters said with folks arguing, “These stories are two different galaxies” and that “nothing really happens in the book other than him going to South America, trying to keep a paper from going under eating alot of cheesburgers and of course drinking alot of rum.” Ok, we’ll grant that the story is different and comparing “Withnail & I” director Bruce Robinson‘s film to Gilliam’s isn’t fair. But we will say this, no matter what is actually contained in the book, the marketing folks behind the movie want you to believe Johnny Depp is gonna get wrecked.
A new poster for the movie has popped up over at Apple and it features Paul Kemp waking up from what must have been a very rowdy night. He might want to check the bathroom in case there is a tiger in there. Anyway, the story follows Kemp, a freelance journalist who finds himself drawn to the Caribbean at a critical turning point in his life. While there he meets the saucy Chenault (Amber Heard) who hangs on the arm of Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart) while he battles his editor (Richard Jenkins). The film curiously skipped any festival appearances this fall and after sitting on the shelf awhile, it certainly makes us wary that it has been kept from an early push.
But hey, we’re up for being pleasantly surprised when the movie opens on October 28th. Full poster below.
