Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Feb. 14, 2012; Digital Download Release Date: Feb. 7, 2012
Price: DVD $30.99, Blu-ray $35.99
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) acts in his second movie adapted by a Hunter S. Thompson
In the comedy film, set in the 1950s, Depp plays New York journalist Paul Kemp, who travels to Puerto Rico for a freelance job with a local newspaper run by down-trodden editor Lotterman (Richard Jenkins, Let Me In). Depp quickly finds himself caught between a beautiful woman (Amber Heard, Drive Angry) and her fiance (Aaron Eckhart, Love Happens), a shady American businessman who wants to turn the island into a capitalist paradise for the wealthy. While partaking in several bottles of booze, Depp is assigned to write favorably about the scheme and must decide whether to go along with it or to take down the businessman.
Written and directed by Bruce Robinson (Jennifer Eight), The Rum Diary also stars Michael Rispoli (Kick-Ass) and Giovanni Ribisi (Avatar).
The R-rated movie got a mixed reception by critics and worse by audiences, leading to the film grossing a poor $13 million in theaters. (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas similarly suffered at the box office, grossing only $10 million.)
The Baltic Times‘ Laurence Boyce said of The Rum Diary: “There are some good things including a great soundtrack and strong performances from the likes of Giovanni Ribisi and Michael Rispoli, but it is a disappointing and overlong affair.”
Like other critics, Toronto Star‘s Peter Howell hailed Depp’s performance, but said, “even he can’t completely save the picture.”
The DVD and Blu-ray come with two special features:
- featurette “A Voice Made of Ink and Rage: Inside The Rum Diary“
- and documentary “The Rum Diary Back-Story.”
Here’s the appropriately crazy-looking trailer:
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