“The Rum Dairy” is the story of an Eisenhower era New Yorker, who comes to Puerto Rico to write for the San Juan Star newspaper. This movie, which is set in the 1950’s is a great blend of action and classical movie feel.
This realistic, visual-action adventure takes us down gorgeous Puerto Rican roads from the wealthy white men’s beach side mansions to areas cluttered with old rusted cars and trash piles where homeless locals live. This movie focuses on the corruption of the rich and powerful, who try to run a country that is not their own.
Paul Kemp, portrayed by Johnny Depp, is a red-eyed journalist with disheveled hair. The movie unfolds as he stumbles through a low key hotel room strewn with empty rum bottles and other trash.
I really liked the character Moberg, an acid-tripping, Nazi-loving ex-reporter, who is always missing from the office. He’s believable, while maintaining an outlandishly crazy nature. One scene finds him taking Sala and Kemp to a witch doctor. They want to have a blessing put on Sala’s game-fighting rooster so that it will win all of its fights. They plot to earn enough money to publish their own edition of the San Juan Star that will expose Sanderson and his cohorts’ corrupt scheme.
Depp portrayed his character well, with his usual English accent, but he is not believable as a New York reporter who’s lived in the city for most of his life.
The movie is rated R, which rules the film out as a family flick, but it’s a good movie to see with your significant other.
One of the best parts of the movie are the panoramic scenes of the island setting as well as the island locals’ cantina which has an extremely authentic feel.
However, this movie is deprived of the action packed ending that I was expecting, though it is filled with witty lines like “You smell it? It’s the smell of bastards. It’s also the smell of truth. I smell ink.”
Besides the witty lines, this movie does a great job in depicting poverty stricken locals living just a stone’s throw away from the lavish beach-side mansions, a scene that is an all too-common scenario in places all over the world, even today.
