This is a Johnny Depp film I've been curious about since I saw the trailers a year ago on TV. I never got to the theater for it, and maybe it's good I waited until Netflix had it available. This is really a mixed bag for me. On one hand you have Depp playing this eccentric drunk, named Paul Kemp, who moves to Puerto Rico to work for a newspaper that's on it's last legs. On the other hand, as you witness the character adapt to his environment, you can see he easily loses focus, as does the story. At one point Kemp is motivated by a beautiful woman named Chenault, played by Amber Heard, who just happens to be married to a shady land developer on the island named Sanderson, and played by Aaron Eckart. Then, as time moves on and eventually she does throw herself at Kemp, he quickly shifts his mindset towards fighting a political agenda, and fighting against the suspect land deals conceived by Sanderson. Eventually, Kemp wants to help get money back into the hands of the natives, and go against the government in general. All of these quick changes happen within a span of about 10 minutes it seems within the third act, and that makes it a jumbled mess of a plot in my opinion.
Or, maybe the audience is just supposed to believe that since Kemp is such a drunken, hot mess, that the story should naturally flow with the energy of his character. Either way, it's easy to feel like it's a mixed bag of a film. The good things are obviously the beautiful sights and visuals of the film shooting in Puerto Rico, some funny character moments not just from Johnny Depp, but also the oscar nominated Giovanni Ribisi who plays a completely drugged out, and bitter newspaper worker. Even the editor of the newspaper, Lotterman, played by Richard Jenkins, has some really funny one liners that will make you burst out loud. Overall, if you are easily entertained by Johnny Depp's acting abilities and character driven moments, even if the plot doesn't make sense towards the end, then you'll enjoy this. However, the plot is such a disorganized mess, its made writing this review a major challenge to organize my thoughts on the film.
I say "netflix" it, and tell me what you think! Nuff Said:)
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