‘Rum’ is predictable fun

October 28, 2011 at 12:20a.m.

Orlando Sentinel

The stench of cheap booze, stale cigarettes, newsprint and pre-air conditioning sweat wafts off the screen in “The Rum Diary,” Johnny Depp’s second shot at paying tribute to his friend, the late journalist Hunter S. Thompson. Though it only rarely reaches the level of gonzo farce that it might have been, “Diary” is still an agreeably drunken stagger through the novel Thompson based on his formative year as a writer — 1960 — which he spent drunk, getting into trouble and first tangling with “The Man” in Puerto Rico.

Paul Kemp (Depp) has come to San Juan for a job interview at the San Juan Star newspaper. He’s made a bad impression by being late and seriously hung-over for his meeting with Lotterman, the editor.

“Conjunctivitis,” he insists.

“This is not the Last Chance Saloon,” Lotterman (Richard Jenkins) gripes, demanding to know what kind of drinker he’s dealing with.

“At the upper end of ‘social,”’ Paul lies. “I’m poised to give it up!”

Writer-director Bruce Robinson (“Withnail & I”) packs the script with pithy Hunter-isms, hurling many of Thompson’s euphonious locutions at us in this opening scene. Puerto Rico, with its two languages and two flags, is “like England with tropical fruit,” Lotterman explains.

Nothing much happens here that we don’t see coming — cops and cockfights, flirtations and drug trips. But Depp makes the performance work by suggesting a burn-out case in need of a second chance.

“Rum Diary,” however predictable the trip and perfunctory the arrival, is worthy because it’s just plain fun to watch.