(Image Source movieblog.mtv)


BY RICHARD LAYCOCK

Johnny Depp is back and once again--soaked in rum.

‘How does anyone drink 161 miniatures? Are they not complimentary?’  (etonline)

This October, Johnny Depp will be reprising his role as the Gonzo legend and professional mischief maker Paul Kemp-- a character based on real-life journalist Hunter S. Thompson. According to MTV’s movie blog:

“Kemp...moves to San Juan, Puerto Rico to work for the major newspaper The Daily News in the late 1950s. He gets swept into a tangled mess of love, jealousy, treachery and alcoholism...”

And critics say-- Depp is perfect for the part.

“Anyone who's seen Johnny Depp playing the ultimate gonzo journalist in Terry Gilliam's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" know this was the part he was born to play...Depp knows this character better than any he's played not named Captain Jack Sparrow.”

A Forbes blogger adds...
“Actually, I’m not even sure Hunter S. Thomspon himself can play Hunter S. Thompson so well.”

But Anna Wilson for Clash Music is skeptical-- saying,

“It's perhaps a bit of a push for Depp to play the main character/hero Paul Kemp...In the novel Kemp is only 30...The trailer looks pretty solid and pacey but it's hard to judge...if Depp can still carry off what is ostensibly a young mans role.”

From what one can gather from the trailer, this will be a film stepped in the Gonzo tradition, Jen Chaney at the Washington Post says...

“...this being a Thompson-inspired film, it’s filled with eccentric characters, overindulgence and hallucinations that, in at least one case, would be totally at home in ‘The Big Lebowski.’”

Depp will be supported by Amber Heard and Aaron Eckhart. The Rum Diary will be hitting U.S. theaters on October 28th.

(SOC)