Missing everything that made the book great. - The Rum Diary (2011) Discussion

[–] Sawyer_Lost 13 years ago

Examples? What's missing besides Yeamon?

"If we amplify everything, we hear nothing."
-Jon Stewart, Rally to restore Sanity

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[–] mrpresident4200 13 years ago

Its not about who's missing but the whole plot of the book is missing.The suspense and action that kept me reading the book is all gone.

Yeamon made the book good and by removing him from the movie it cut the best parts from the book.

If you have read the book you would know that none of the great moments in the book are in this movie.From the first scene to the terrible ending,its just a flat story.The more I think about it the more I don't understand why depp would make the movie at all if it didn't include the best parts from the book.

Pure disappointment is all this movie is.

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[–] marbanasin 13 years ago

Agreed. Was so sad they missed the great opening scene on the plane and the end literally made me go from slightly disappointed to raging.

Can't keep me off this escalator!

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[–] mrpresident4200 13 years ago

The whole plane part is hilarious,I don't know why they would not include it.

This film also needed the monologue like fear&loathing had.

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[–] jxforsyte 13 years ago

The Rum Diary is my favorite novel and I have been waiting for this film ever since I heard of it's original production in I believe 2005. So when it finally came out I was thrilled. That being said I was so disappointed in the film, there was a point that I ALMOST walked out. So much was different, so much was cut out it wasn't the same Rum Diary I love. I don't understand why they changed it so much. They really just used names and SOME places and just went in their own direction. I mean come on, Al's was only in it twice. I loved that place and it was like a central anchor for the story.

Maybe someday someone that is willing to be true to Hunter S. Thompson's original work will make it again.
Untill then lets all raise our glass of warm rum and say "here's to hoping".

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[–] willy99 13 years ago

Well, here's to hoping that Sean Penn finally gets off his ass and does something about The Curse of Lono. I'm still looking forward to seeing this in theaters.

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[–] boomshakalakalaka 13 years ago

Is the book as disjointed of a mess as the movie? Because I was thinking of reading it and am just not going to bother.

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[–] jxforsyte 13 years ago

NO!! The book is nothing like the film. You should read the book so you can see why we are all upset.

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[–] randomlynx 13 years ago

Glad to hear because I was going to read the book, then saw the movie, then questioned whether it would be a good idea or not.

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[–] mrpresident4200 13 years ago

Do yourself a favor and read the book,the story is great and its pretty short(200 pages) so its a quick read.I might have to dig out my copy to refresh my memory but I know its just going to piss me off more.

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[–] All_Seeing_Fly 13 years ago

They could have done it properly if the book is so short.
There must be some reason it couldn't be scripted to follow the book.
I don't understand - maybe all those involved just don't read books any more? :)

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[–] sity11 13 years ago

i'd like to take a sec to agree with everyone here so far. as has been mentioned, the plane scene is missing... in the book it's hilarious. but i think the best chapter in the book is the carnival chapter... and they've butchered it. Also where kemp and sala pull the 2 women and take them to the beach.

i think the main reason the film is a slight let down and has been adapted so heavily is because it's not a book that was written for these times. In the film they seem afraid to touch any kind of racial issues with a 10 foot barge pole, HST was the complete opposite.

Depp kind of managed his non-chalant attitude... but he was too old for this.

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[–] mrpresident4200 13 years ago

Out of all hst's books this one reads the most like it could easily be made into a movie.Lots of dialogue and descriptions of the environment.

It does make me wonder if Robinson even read the book.The things added make no sense what so ever.I hope there is enough outrage that depp will have to explain himself.

Anyone who think this movie is great hasn't read the book or they're just stupid.

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[–] Sledbetter-634-260453 13 years ago

I agree that it was a massive letdown after the long wait.

On one note, it DID play a slightly similar to the feel of the novel. It was Hunter writing a bit before he introduced the overwhelming character is was to the world. The movie wasn't hyped out like F&L and it shouldn't have been.

But they, disappointingly, dismissed the FEEL of the story! There was MEANING and there shouldn't have been, there was a real strong plot and there shouldn't have been. I don't care if they change the story around in movie adaptations of novels but they took away the entire feel of the film.

When I read The Rum Diary, I feel like I'm on a wacky drunken adventure along with Paul Kemp. That's really all that had to be done to satisfy me - bring that to the screen. But they failed. I felt like I was in the midst of a story that had real content with characters who had real souls, instead of just characters who sporadically acted out.

I'm really disappointed in Johnny Depp, to be honest. This was his film to make awesome. That and I really love when he speaks like Hunter but he didn't do it enough :(

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[–] outahand 13 years ago

the rum diary is one of my favorite books.... probably my favorite short novel.
the beginning and ending were completely discarded for the film and all of the good bits were watered down trash.
Johnny Depp.... I'm really disappointed that you let the Ba5Tards ruin this film...
SERIOUSLY the whole moral to this story was to fight against the greed that made this very film stinking hollywood rubbish.

-Outahand-
Cultural Design

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[–] scoobysnax7654321 13 years ago

I agree. I kept holding on during the film hoping they could turn it around some how. It was quite disappointing to have waited the better part of a few years for this result.
One of the biggest insults to the book, IMO, is the complete omission of the very shady bar (the name escapes me now) that they spend all of their time in. It had to have been important in some way to HST if the entire prologue of the book talked about the creation of that bar. And to only have a two minute scene in the film where they shove burgers in their mouths and leave... ugh.

I actually wrote a full review on my thoughts of the film here:

http://lostinreviews.com/2011/10/the-rum-diary-will-give-thompson-fans -a-hangover/

This rant about the bar didn't make it into the review.

comments are always appreciated,
thanks,
Angela

http://lostinreviews.com/

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[–] rigidrecords 13 years ago

Great review Angela! Cool site as well ;)

When I read the book, I thought to myself, Damn, he explains everything so vividly that you could literally just use the book as a reference for set design and of course the script. It blows my mind that the *beep* who made this movie ruined it the way they did. How could Depp sign-off on this? Did he not have any say in the outcome? Extremely disappointed in this film. I'm unemployed at the moment, you could've payed me $500 to direct and I would have made HST smile down from the heavens.

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[–] baseballgirl 13 years ago

It makes me upset to hear this. I, too, read the book ages ago and have been looking forward to this movie for years. I'm going to see it tomorrow. (Ditched the movies on Friday to watch The World Series and have worked the past three evenings.) I had low expectations of the movie as soon as I found out they were writing out Yeamon. He caused most of the action in the book! And he was cuckoo. I loved it.

I'm definitely going to see it, as I love Hunter and I love Johnny. Fear and Loathing was fairly close to the book, if I remember correctly, so that's one of the reasons I loved that movie so much. (Also because I read the book after I saw the movie haha.) I guess the one saving grace for me will be that I read The Rum Diary so long ago that I don't remember everything. I'll be sure to reread it after seeing the movie, instead of before.

Thanks for posting this, though. I was wondering how much of the book was contained in the film.

One should always be on the lookout for fiendish thingies when enjoying winter sports.

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[–] mrpresident4200 13 years ago

Now that I assumed you have watched it go back and reread the book.I guarantee it will lower your opinion of the movie.

I mean,what was the point of the cock fighting and trying to put out a last paper.In the book Sanderson was not that bad of a guy.why not have Kemp quit anyway.
One of the best parts of the book is on the plane with Kemp going through the effort to save a seat and then have the guy weasel in to it.

Nothing was even close to the book.

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[–] baseballgirl 13 years ago

Yeah, I'm already pretty disappointed, but I'm rereading it as soon as I finish my current book. I'll probably cry during the process.

One should always be on the lookout for fiendish thingies when enjoying winter sports.

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[–] haladay 13 years ago

I was pretty disappointed as well. For me, it was a book talking about Puerto Rico. My favorite line was how he described it as a cardboard town and the "10 Things I love about Puerto Rico" article was a great bit too and both were lost in this property development plot.

The other element I liked about the book was how Paul wasn't that nice of a guy, and Hunter gave you an honest look at a flawed character. Then they go and tack on that ending where they try to make him care about the girl's well being. I want a Hunter S Thompson main character, not a Hollywood main character.

.

{My goal in life is to have my own IMDb page.}

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[–] mafila 13 years ago

I'm a huge Thompson fan and I absolutely loved the book, but when I saw the trailer for this movie I knew right away that it was overblown Hollywood crap that wasn't going to stay true to the book. I'm not even going to bother paying to see it in theaters, I'll wait until it hits the Redbox.

By the way, I loved Depp in Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, but even in the trailer for this movie I was able to spot a bunch of things that had nothing to do with the book.

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

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[–] tsain-2 13 years ago

I'm really surprised that people liked this book... it felt like a chore every time I picked it up.

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[–] mrpresident4200 13 years ago

A chore?I sit down and read the whole book in one sitting every time I read it.I think its one of his better books.

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[–] AllieMDA 9 years ago

I sit down and read the whole book in one sitting every time I read it.

Me too.... In college, I never even checked it out from the library - because I would sit down on the floor in the stacks and read it.
Also if you like this more than his other work, you might want to take a look at Hunter S. Thompson's collected letters. "The Rum Diary", while technically "unfinished", is by far my favorite of Thompson's books, and I love his letters... I've got 2 volumes, 55-67 and 68- 76.

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[–] sgiles-4 13 years ago

Haha....If this was a chore to read then it wasn't the story that was difficult for you, it was the act of reading. Go back to your Twilight novels and leave the works of real writers to those of us who can process it.

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[–] AllieMDA 9 years ago

Go back to your Twilight novels

I find The Rum Diary much more readable than Twilight. Pared down, no-nonsense. Did not need to stretch a story into 3 or 4 volumes. (Yes I did read the Twilight books, and I found them to be somewhat entertaining... But they are awfully long.)

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[–] andyairey-1 13 years ago

I really can't see what all the fuss is about.

I read the book and thought it was great. I saw the movie and had a good 2 hours watching it. Sure, they took some creative licence there is no Yeoman and Johnny Depp is probably too old to be playing Paul from the book.

But isn't that the point? This isn't the book, this is the movie and the two compliment each other. Why would you just want to see the book transferred to the big screen exactly as it appears in print.

If that is all you want then why not just re-read the book?

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[–] mrpresident4200 13 years ago

Same reason fear and loathing is so great.That movie highlighted great parts in the book and didn't try to make that movie something it wasn't.By watching F&L you knew the writer understood why it was a great book and didn't need to be supplemented by adding a worthless plot.Hunter's work is a bad starting point to make a different story from.

I like where the buffalo roam because it's so broad it just touches some of the books.These three movies show the different approaches and how well they honor the work.

The Rum diary didn't need changes,Why even make the movie if they take out the things that made the book good.It doesn't make sense to make a movie from a book if the very reason to use the book is changed while making the movie.

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[–] MoeHartman 13 years ago

I agree. The book was great, but it's not the end of the world if the film adaptation is 100% faithful. I actually think adaptations shouldn't be faithful or they aren't truly worth watching. Not every change in the screenplay paid off, but it's nowhere near the disaster some of these comments make it out to be, and judged on its own merits, it's a perfectly enjoyable movie with a great cast and solid direction that pretty much captures the mood of the book if not the exact same themes or story.

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[–] undertoe 13 years ago

I had just finished reading the book a few hours before I sat down to watch this flim. I made it to the point when kemp was on sala lap in his fiat, driving down those stairs and the rage took over and I turned it off. I dont know how Depp, apparently close to HST could let this film depart so much from the book. Maybe I will try watching it all one day, but I doubt it

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] madmonkey_987 13 years ago

I just watched it today, but didn't know it was based on a book - so might have understood it better if I had read it. I did quite like it, but it never really felt like it went anywhere at the end. I was expecting it to lead up to something a bit bigger, but then it ends and he sails away.

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[–] awefrdsq 13 years ago

I don't think that missing scenes are the worst thing about it. Whole theme of the book was completely changed by, i'm guessing, screenwriter.

While the story in the book is balanced by strive for the success, for what is morally right and for chaotic peace. This is completely ruined by giving The Girl to the rich guy, instead of leaving her with wretched and broke Yeamon. Whole dynamic of complicated relationships is destroyed. No pity for the man whose girl Kemp is desiring. No giving up to the temptation of being sucessfull. No lonely meditations. No guilt in Chenault. Only thing that stayed is chaos. It is well transported onto the film. Scenes are changed from those in the book, but point is still there. For me personally, a very commendable feature of this film. I really believe it could be a great project, if only they kept the essence of the book.

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[–] crejk 13 years ago

I always hated when people use the cliche phrase - "the book was way better...", but this time I couldn't agree more.
Because of all the relationship Depp and HST had, I believed that a book of 200 and few pages, will be properly portrayed on 2 hour long movie.
Than I started thinking... They cut lots of great parts of book (airplane on start, Yeamon, so many stories at Al's, settling in new apartment, and the whole ending with the fight, and Yeamon fleeing), not counting the numerous little stuff that made the book great, and only things they added were coq fights, drugging scene, and a messed up ending. So when you do a simple math, the movie should be probably 5 hour or more long to keep the essence of the book.
But if this was the only way they could trim it to a feature movie length, they shouldn't start filming it in a first place.

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[–] crejk 13 years ago

One more thing...
It is not much of a comparison, but imagine that Peter Jackson got idea of bringing 3 Tolkien books to 1 movie.
It would be something like this:
Saruman and Sauron would be a same character, Frodo would be accompanied by only Gollum (not Sam). After hour and a half Gollum would push Frodo from a cliff, steal he's ring, and bring it to Saruman, who would then crown him as a king of Gondor.
My feeling after watching this movie is close to what I would feel like if such LOTR was made (not that the one that is actually made is much better).

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[–] thepunk69er 13 years ago

I want Johnny Depp to do to The Rum Diary what Sean Connery did to Thunderball and just remake it.

"does it bother you that people call you a retard?"

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