GK Films, Infinitum Nihil, FilmEngine,
Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Rispoli, Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins, Giovanni Ribisi, Amaury Nolasco, Marshall Bell, Bill Smitrovich
It’s the 1950’s and hard drinking journalist Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) takes a job for a local paper in Puerto Rico. His somewhat bizarre editor Lotterman (Richard Jenkins) keeps assigning him to silly tourist pieces and the daily horoscope, but keeps promising more. Paul gets thrown out of the hotel for wiping out the mini-bar, and rooms with Sala (Michael Rispoli) and equally hard drinking reporter, in a rundown flat. Paul is hired by Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart) a rich land baron who has plans to take over an island and build a huge resort, and uses Paul to create the right atmosphere for the land grab, but when Paul takes a liking to Sanderson’s girlfriend, Chenault (Amber Heard) things turn nasty in a hurry.
This quirky movie is based on a novel by the same name. As with any Johnny Depp movie, it’s bound to be a bit strange, and this one certainly is. So be forewarned, if you’re not a Depp fan, you might not appreciate this. That being said, it’s pretty funny. Sort of in the vein of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” this is a Rum induced disaster of a story. These guys are so hard drinking, that they don’t know what’s going on most of the time. This leads to a lot of the funny moments in this film. The drama of this group of rich white guys trying to steal an island to build their mega-resort is overshadowed by the day to day drunken stupor that everyone is in. But life in Puerto Rico in the 50’s looks fun, even if it was hard.
Basically this is a relatively decent comedy about a bunch of guys who are a little bit odd, trying to get by in a tropical paradise that’s not quite so paradisaical after all. It’s not a great film, but certainly a decent film, especially if you appreciate the off the wall humor that Depp is known for. Not a classic, but not bad for a lazy afternoon.
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