Some thirteen years after Johnny Depp first read The Rum Diary in Hunter S. Thompson’s “war room,” Johnny’s dream of bringing the Good Doctor’s first novel to the screen has been fulfilled. Today The Rum Diary, adapted and filmed by Bruce Robinson in Puerto Rico in the spring of 2009, opens on 2,273 screens in the U.S. and Canada. Here’s an excerpt from a thoughtful review in Screen Daily:

“Inspired by Thompson’s own adventures as a journalist in Puerto Rico in the early ‘60s, The Rum Diary stars Depp as the Thompson-like Kemp, a hard-drinking writer looking for a fresh start working at a newspaper in San Juan. But soon he is approached by Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), a morally shady businessman who wants to pay him to write flattering articles about a hotel development he’s planning. But Kemp seems far more interested in Chenault (Amber Heard), Sanderson’s free-spirited, flirtatious fiancée.

“[. . . T]he film is a wonder of sweaty, pungent atmosphere, and with the help of cinematographer Dariusz Wolski and actual Puerto Rican locations, the viewer is immersed in San Juan’s tension between aspiring to be an island paradise and acknowledging the reality that it’s a city rife with poverty. The Rum Diary’s central characters have to live within that dichotomy, Americans who abandoned the mainland for different reasons and are looking to Puerto Rico for a new life.

“What is most successful is the unlikely romantic triangle between Kemp, Sanderson and Chenault. As Kemp and Chenault’s slow-burn attraction starts to ignite, The Rum Diary almost takes on the tone of a noir, with Heard quite capably proving herself a fetching femme fatale. [. . .] Depp and Heard have a seductive chemistry, with Eckhart effortlessly serving as the rich, slick, smug obstacle to their love affair.

“Unfortunately, that romantic triangle is but one story thread in this overstuffed film, which simply takes on too many themes and incidents to be as coherent as one might hope. What ultimately holds The Rum Diary together is also what limits its achievement: This is a movie about lost souls who too easily are stumbling through life. Try as it might, even the movie can’t always bring these people into focus.”

The Zone thanks Emma for sharing the review; you can read more on the Zone’s Porch General Discussion forum.