Johnny Depp gets to spy beautiful women, drink copious amounts of miniature alcohol bottles, and wield journalistic power in FilmDistrict’s The Rum Diary, the first trailer from which you can watch below.
In The Rum Diary, Depp plays journalist Paul Kemp who relocates to Puerto Rico from New York in search of a more laid back lifestyle. While working for the local newspaper he falls for Chenault (Amber Heard), the wife of a powerful businessman named Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart) determined to transform the island into a capitalist paradise. Kemp will ultimately have to choose between writing about Sanderson’s exploits in a positive light, or using the power of words to help bring him to justice.
The Rum Diary makes clear that it’s not a Pirates of the Caribbean knockoff, all while throwing in a little in-joke from On Stranger Tides involving beautiful sirens of the sea. On the contrary, the film is R-rated as evidenced by a couple mature-themed scenes that made it into the trailer. I’m sure there’s far more raunchy scenes in the full film.
Bruce Robinson wrote The Rum Diary screenplay and directed the film based on Hunter S. Thompson’s novel of the same name. For all practical purposes, Depp is playing the same character from Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The cast also features Richard Jenkins, Giovanni Ribisi, Amaury Nolasco, Michael Rispoli and Karimah Westbrook.
Look for The Rum Diary in theaters on October 28, 2011.
