Johnny Depp is spot on as a sozzled journalist in 1960s Puerto Rico in this too-sober but enjoyable version of Hunter S Thompson's autobiographical novel
Johnny Depp is spot on as a sozzled journalist in 1960s Puerto Rico in this too-sober but enjoyable version of Hunter S Thompson's autobiographical novel.
It's 1960 and Depp's boozy journalist escapes the stifling conformity of Eisenhower-era America for rum-soaked Puerto Rico by wangling a job on a local newspaper.
But the paper is on its last legs and predatory US businessmen are sizing up their opportunities on the island, as he discovers after he gets mixed up with Aaron Eckhart's slick wheeler-dealer and his girlfriend (Amber Heard).
Depp goes through various drink-and-drug-fuelled escapades, which are fun enough to watch, but the film fails to really catch fire as it's more a portrait of the author in the process of finding his voice.
