I liked this movie. It is not perfect, but it is original and interesting and funny and bizarre. I didn't find it settled into one genre or one style, but instead was a combination travelogue, frat-house party film, and coming of age story for Hunter Thompson. Johnny Depp's character, Kemp, is loosely based on Thompson, and he stumbles through the film in an alcoholic haze, hung over, but still stylish. There are drugs, beaches, cockerel fighting, a crazy boss with a bad toupee (I love Richard Jenkins), an insane roommate with sores on his penis (Giovanni Ribisi - and my God, he gives an interesting performance), and a really gorgeous girl.
Kemp discovers during his time in Puerto Rico that he likes drugs as well as booze, hates corporate bastards and politicians, and does indeed have a voice. There are parts of the film that seem totally unnecessary (Giovanni's penis, the tongue scene), but by the end I had the distinct impression that pointlessness and random events were the point of the film. I'm ok with that. The ending was weak, but I can live with that.
Johnny is great. (A.O. Scott thought Depp was basically showing us his own charisma rather than acting, but I disagree. At a minimum, there is a physicality to Depp's performance I found impressive, plus he used a plummy eastern shore voice that put him in the correct era.) Michael Rispoli is awesome. And then there is Amber Heard. This girl is gorgeous, like Halle Berry or Selma Hayek gorgeous. And she held up her end without much of a role to work with.
I recommend this one.
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