The Rum Diary

http://www.rumdiarythemovie.com/

Despite Johnny Depp's recent film choices being less than reliable, I still wanted to see The Rum Diary, mostly because the trailer did actually make me laugh out loud. Something I rarely do at most comedies, let alone the trailers for those comedies.

What I wasn't aware of when I made the decision to go and see The Rum Diary was that this was the prequel to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. One of the few Johnny Depp films I haven't seen and don't own.

The Rum Diary tells the story of American writer Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp), who is hired by a newspaper in Puerto Rico to help it's failing readership. Whilst out in a country where he doesn't speak the language (even though his CV says he does), Paul becomes embroiled in a dodgy deal involving building hotels on a private island, dabbles in drink and drugs and steals the wrong guy's girl. 

But that's about all he does. And while that might sound like a lot, The Rum Diary suffers a similar fate to In Time in that it feels like a very directionless film which has only been given the greenlight because Johnny Depp was involved. It is a slightly more interesting film than In Time however, and with infinitely better performances. Notably from Depp but no surprises there. He isn't the only good performer with fine support from Aaron Eckhart, Michael Rispoli, Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins and Giovani Ribisi.

But fine performances from a solid cast do not a good film make, as Yoda might say. As I mentioned above the film seems to lack direction other than to say that the story continues with Fear and Loathing, and I personally have no greater interest to watch that movie now than I did before I saw The Rum Diary.

There are funny moments but these have all been seen before in the trailer. Sadly this leads me to say that this is yet another lacklustre film from Mr Depp. His next film will need to be something spectacular if he's to lure me back to the cinema. 6 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 13th November 2011

UK Release Date - 11th November 2011

Cast Overview:

Johnny Depp ~ Paul Kemp

Aaron Eckhart ~ Sanderson

Michael Rispoli ~ Sala

Amber Heard ~ Chenault

Richard Jenkins ~ Lotterman

Giovani Ribisi ~ Moburg

Director ~ Bruce Robinson

Writer(s) ~ Bruce Robinson (Screenplay) and Hunter S Thompson (Novel)

Battle: Los Angeles

http://www.battlela.com/

I had a really busy day on Friday. Had loads to do and never really felt like I was getting anywhere. By the end of the day I was so stressed out and hadn't managed to do even half of what I needed to do. So when my cinema buddy suggested seeing a film, the choices being Battle: Los Angeles, Fair Game or Hall Pass, I jumped at the chance to escape for a few hours.


I let my buddy pick and it turns out he went with the most mind numbing of the three which was great for me as it meant that I could give my brain a break for a few hours. 


If you've seen the trailer for Battle: Los Angeles you'll know that it's a creature feature in which a group of US Marines are attempting to safeguard Los Angeles defences against an alien invasion. Along the way they pick up civilians and lose members of the troupe but they retain their gung-ho attitude to rid the world of the hostile creatures. 


I think that may be the shortest synopsis I've ever written but there really isn't a lot to say about the plot of this film. It's your typical aliens-invade-the-world film but as usual we only get to see the devastation of America (in this instance, specifically Los Angeles). Unlike it's predecessors however, Battle: Los Angeles has several quite major voids. It lacks the human elements of films like Signs and Independence Day, it lacks the irony of The Faculty, the comedy of movies like Critters and Men In Black and it has no real horror like Aliens, Predator or The Thing. Which kind of leaves it as a war film with aliens. And as such, it's just really quite boring. 


There's not enough time spent getting to know the characters before the aliens arrive and after they've arrived it's all about the battle. There's little to no script, and what is there is laughably bad or cheesy, which leads me to wonder just how much the actors all got paid as I can't see what else made them want to make this movie. It's annoying because there's good actors here, Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Noel Fisher, Michael Pena, Bridget Moynahan, they could all do so much better than this movie.


The direction is shaky from start to finish. I know this is meant to instill a sense of the 'battle' but it just caused me to have a headache and not be able to focus on what was going on. There wasn't ever a decent shot of any of the aliens, which is fine for keeping the audience in suspense for around half the movie, but you should at least have an idea of what they look like by the end. When the credits rolled I could no more have told you what the aliens looked like than I could from just having watched the trailer at the beginning of the film.


It's not the worst film this year but it's not far behind. 5 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 11th March 2011

UK Release Date - 11th March 2011

Cast Overview:

Aaron Eckhart ~ Staff Sgt Nantz

Ramon Rodriguez ~ 2nd Lt Martinez

Cory Hardrict ~ Cpl Lockett

Gino Anthony Pesi ~ Cpl Stavrou

Ne-Yo ~ Cpl Harris

Noel Fisher ~ Pfc Lenihan

Michelle Rodriguez ~ TSgt Santos

Neil Brown Jr ~ LCpl Guerrero

Bridget Moynahan ~ Michele

Michael Pena ~ Joe Rincon

Bryce Cass ~ Hector Rincon

Director ~ Jonathan Liebesman

Writer ~ Christopher Bertolini