The Rum Diary movie adaptation.

[astrozombie]

It completely slipped under my radar. But the other day I learned that "The Rum Diary" had not only been adapted but is out next month! And Bruce Robinson has written the script and is directing it.

I then learned that in the film they have gotten rid of the character Yeamon as 'they wanted to take it another direction from the book' then I found out that they've kept Chenault in there didn't really make sense to me but ah well. It's a shame really because Yeamon was my favourite character in the book always made me laugh with his tough guy attitude.

What do you all think about it?

[Noodle Lizard]

As a huge fan of the book and Hunter Thompson's work, the trailer made me furious.  It makes it look as though they've turned what is essentially a quirky, yet melancholy semi-autobiographical story which was incredibly personal to Hunter (so much so that he didn't publish it until the early 2000s, despite having written it in the fifties) into a schmucky "lol alcohol" comedy.  As much as I admire Withnail & I, I don't fully trust Bruce Robinson with the source material, and Johnny Depp appears to sell his integrity for very little nowadays (well, a lot - being the highest paid actor and all - but he will do it).

Not to mention some of the other casting choices are very suspect (Amber Heard as Chenault?!)  The abolition of Yeamon is extremely worrying to me, too - it's like taking Demetrius out of an adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream.  I'll definitely be seeing it, as I've been following it's progress more or less since its inception, but I'm very concerned.  Hopefully it was just a case of BTS (Bad Trailer Syndrome).

NOTE:  It's been in the works since 2004, and was actually eventually filmed in 2009, but the release kept getting pushed back due to Johnny Depp being owned by big productions like Alice In Wonderland and POTC 4.

[astrozombie]

I thought the trailer looked alot like 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 2' (and to some extent 'Withnail & I 2: Puerto Rico's Calling') with the way Depp was playing Kemp.

It seems to heavily play on the romance between Kemp and Chenault but with no Yeamon I can't see how it would work and the stuff with Sala makes it seem like an odd couple type comedy. The bit where they were watching TV with binonculars made me cringe. It's not a very long book, it's something you can sit down and read the whole of in an evening, they could fit most of everything in. Maybe the fact that Yeamon sometimes enjoys giving Chenault a slap across the chops worried studios. But ah well, you have to remember people all like the playful light heartedness of POTC and seeing something like that could shock people and maybe even cause them to phone Ofcom. Just remember they don't have those 'Hollyoaks' fashioned helpline numbers at the end of films.

Ah well, it will still probably be better than 'Where the Buffalos Roam'.

They'll probably get tucking into 'Hells Angels' next with Johnny Depp and Sam Worthington playing every biker.

[Noodle Lizard]

That's what confused me - the book really is very short, and even then it has a few somewhat trivial (but enjoyable) scenes which could be lost.  I can understand getting rid of a character or a subplot from a 2000-page epic, but The Rum Diary can't be more than 200 pages.

Yes, I'm fairly sure they'll do away with

Spoiler alert

Chenault's implied gang rape

[close]

as well.  You can't have him associated with such filth, even if these changes do piss on the grave of Johnny's dead friend.  Kids love him!  Let's just throw in some more alcohol jokes instead.

[astrozombie]

Yeah I can't see that making it in there. Also I just realised with Yeamon . . . what will happen with...

SPOILER ALERT

Lotterman's death? Will he die in a hail of police bullets instead? The more and more I think about this ridding of Yeamon the more I realise this is probably going to be a shit adaptation.

[Noodle Lizard]

To be honest, I can't think of a scene/line from the trailer which was actually from the book - then again, I only watched it once and it left me babbling furiously at friends of mine who eventually reply "what's a rum dially?"

What they've done with Paul Kemp is pretty hideous though, which is definitely evident in the trailer.  How have they turned a drunk, lonely and often lost man into some cool, stylish hipster - cracking jokes and one-liners left right and centre?  Ugh.