Over a decade after Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas tanked at the box office and became the best movie ever to watch Read the full post.
Jun 18
2010
05:03 PM ET
Johnny Depp in 'The Rum Diary': Hunter S. Thompson 'lives' again!
- Comments 42
- Add comment
Latest News
- 'Awake' finale: Replay Kyle Killen chat
- 'Revenge' boss fields burning Q's!
- JoAnna Garcia joins 'Animal Practice'
- 'Transformers the Ride 3-D': A fun one!
- Grant Bowler: Richard Burton to Lohan's Liz
- 'Men in Black 3' poised to KO 'Avengers'
- Elijah Wood joins cast of 'Red vs. Blue'
- 'Twilight': Three new character posters
Most Commented
Top 5 Most Read
- ‘Revenge’ season finale: Creator Mike Kelley answers burning questions!
- Bodies of Work: 46 Unforgettable Nude Scenes
- Casting Net: ‘Thor 2,’ ‘Iron Man 3′ land new villains. Plus: Anthony Hopkins, Bradley Cooper, Owen…
- 'Duets' series premiere recap: Just Me, Myself, and You
- Elijah Wood joins the cast of ‘Red vs. Blue.’ Plus: Season 10 trailer — EXCLUSIVE
True, that Depp is playing Paul Kemp in The Rum Diary and not HST himself, but Paul Kemp’s character was based on HST’s life and actual adventures at the start of his journalism career. The character may be named Paul Kemp, but it’s HST through and through – prior to the Gonzo days, that is. In Fear & Loathing, the HST character was named Raoul Duke, but that character was 100% Hunter S. Thompson and Johnny portrayed him perfectly. He lived with him for months in order to pick up HST’s mannerisms, voice, walk, the way he smoked his cigarettes, the way he drank, the way he drove the Red Shark, his clothing style, etc. Most of the clothing Johnny wore in Fear & Loathing were HST’s actual items of clothing, and the red convertible he drove was HST’s Red Shark.
FEAR AND LOATHING RULES BUT YOU NEVER HEAR ABOUT WHERE THE BUFFALO ROAM WITH BILL MURRAY THATS A MUST FOR ALL GONZO FANS
CHECK OUT MY NEW WEBSITE
INTELIVERSATION.COM AND YOU CAN SEE SOME GONZO. ITS BRAND NEW
I want to see this yesterday! There was some sort of screening near LA and the audience response was very favorable – they thought it was very funny in parts. There were some gripes re the ending, which isn’t the same as the one in the novel. Love JD’s look; Hunter looked like this at the time.
‘let’s get down to brass tacks, man. how much for the ape?’
think less hallucinogens, more booze.
lots more booze. love the book, hoping
to love the film…
At some point in this Johnny Depp needs to say,
“BUT WHY IS ALL THE RUM GONE!!!!!”
so you loved fear and loathing in college but didn’t bother to read the book for this review. You must be a- the worst journalist to cover this AND (not or) b- a fake HST fan.
for shame!
when are we going to finally see it? hasn’t it been in the works for like for ever?
The book was GREAT. A fun read, and not too long. I have one fear about this film, however. Depp plays Paul Kemp who is based on HST, but I would argue that the character Yeamon was basically Hunter’s alter ego. They did not cast the role of Yeamon and, from what I can find, it appears he has been written out. While I trust “The Colonel” to stay true to The Good Doctor’s vision, I am worried because I believe that he was an essential character to the story. At any rate, I have been waiting for this movie for a long time, they need to release it already!
It seems like it’s been in the making for a long time. I was in Puerto Rico two years ago and stayed in the hotel where some of the film was shot and had other opertunities to see cast and crew at a few other sites, so am very excited to see this finally get to the big screen.
Read Rum Diary about 7 years ago, so I definitely will be rereading it soon! I do know I still want a shack on the beach with a lobster trap…
It was a great book and so very different from Fear and Loathing. I hope the movie doesn’t let me down.
The point of this comment is to promote free thinking. You haven’t read ‘The Rum Diary’ yet you write about it? You write about HST and you categorize him up with a poor summary of Fear and Loathing and how it made you popular by quoting it? Trust me, read The Rum Diary and get a good opinion of it..its not the stereotyped HST work that people categorize him with. Good luck.
The point of this comment is to promote free thinking. You haven’t read ‘The Rum Diary’ yet you write about it? You write about HST and you categorize him up with a poor summary of Fear and Loathing and how it made you popular by quoting it? Trust me, read The Rum Diary and get a good opinion of it..its not the stereotyped HST work that people categorize him with. Good luck.
Psyched about this…and even more pumped about the thought of an ‘Campaign Trail’ flick, his best novel by far!!
Just finished reading Rum Diary, having spent most of my life thinking Fear & Loathing in LV was the best book ever written. Rum Diary is obviously the predecessor to this – almost a study for it. Thompson’s self-destructive protagonist very much in evidence, but without the charm. Rum Diary reminds me of a whirlpool, starting at the very beginning, in which the characters swirl around, trapped in their flawed personalities, until they are inevitably sucked down. You see it coming, and wait for one of them to behave rationally to prevent it.
To me, ultimately, it’s a very sad novel – with characters living lives of not-so-quiet desperation.
You realize therefore considerably in terms of this subject, made me for my part imagine it from a lot of numerous angles. Its like men and women don’t seem to be interested unless it is one thing to do with Girl gaga! Your individual stuffs outstanding. All the time maintain it up!