The Rum Diary

The Rum Diary (2011) is a boozy comedy-drama you can watch online on iFILM. Director Bruce Robinson adapted Hunter S. Thompson's early novel and handed the lead to Johnny Depp.

It's 1960, and journalist Paul Kemp ditches a glossy New York career for a sinking newspaper in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where rum is cheaper than water. Editor Lotterman keeps the paper limping along on fumes. Local operators are pushing crooked property deals, and Kemp falls hard for Chenault (Amber Heard), the fiancée of slick businessman Sanderson, played by Aaron Eckhart. Somewhere between the next drink and a waking conscience, Kemp starts to find his voice as a writer. Giovanni Ribisi and Richard Jenkins fill out the newsroom.

This isn't a biopic so much as a snapshot of Thompson before he became Thompson: heat, absurdity, petty corruption and an anger still looking for a target. One for viewers who love Depp at his half-soused, fast-talking best and the rough edges of early gonzo. Stream The Rum Diary (2011) online on iFILM.