2011 Movie Reviews

Review: “The Rum Diary”

The Rum Diary Poster
“The Rum Diary”

Writer/director Bruce Robinson’s The Rum Diary is much like a Caribbean vacation: a carefree getaway filled with significant rum consumption.  However the film, which is based on Hunter S. Thompson’s novel by the same name, takes this relaxed attitude to the extreme, with a story that drifts along aimlessly like a rudderless boat.

You’re probably not surprised or even dissuaded if you’ve seen other drug addled Thompson adventures like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Where the Buffalo Roam.  But since The Rum Diary was written before these yarns, when Thompson wrote for a Puerto Rican newspaper in his youth, it sets slightly more serious expectations for a cohesive tale.

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Evan Crean

Hello! My name is Evan Crean. By day I work for a marketing agency, but by night, I’m a film critic based in Boston, MA. Since 2009, I have written hundreds of movie reviews and celebrity interviews for Starpulse.com. I have also contributed pieces to NewEnglandFilm.com and to The Independent, as a writer and editor. I maintain an active Letterboxd account too. In addition to publishing short form work, I am a co-author of the book Your ’80s Movie Guide to Better Living, which is available on CreateSpace and Amazon. The book is the first in a series of lighthearted self-help books for film fans, which distills advice from ’80s movies on how to tackle many of life’s challenges. On top of writing, I co-host and edit the weekly film podcast Spoilerpiece Theatre with two other Boston film critics. I’m a founding member and the current treasurer for the Boston Online Film Critics Association as well. This site, Reel Recon.com, is a one-stop-shop where you can find links to all of my past and present work. Have any questions or comments after checking it out? Please feel free to email me (Evan Crean) at: ecrean AT reelrecon DOT COM .