Best movies like The Rum Diary
One part outrage. One part justice. Three parts rum. Mix well.
A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like The Rum Diary Starring Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Rispoli, and more. If you liked The Rum Diary then you may also like: Zombie Island Massacre, Welcome to the Jungle, Where the Buffalo Roam, Withnail & I, Jesus' Son and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.
Tired of the noise and madness of New York and the crushing conventions of late Eisenhower-era America, itinerant journalist Paul Kemp travels to the pristine island of Puerto Rico to write for a local San Juan newspaper run by the downtrodden editor Lotterman. Adopting the rum-soaked lifestyle of the late ‘50s version of Hemingway’s 'The Lost Generation', Paul soon becomes entangled with a very attractive American woman and her fiancée, a businessman involved in shady property development deals. It is within this world that Kemp ultimately discovers his true voice as a writer and integrity as a man.
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Where the Buffalo Roam
Semi-biographical film based on the experiences of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson.
Withnail & I
Two out-of-work actors -- the anxious, luckless Marwood and his acerbic, alcoholic friend, Withnail -- spend their days drifting between their squalid flat, the unemployment office and the pub. When they take a holiday "by mistake" at the country house of Withnail's flamboyantly gay uncle, Monty, they encounter the unpleasant side of the English countryside: tedium, terrifying locals and torrential rain.
Jesus' Son
A young man turns from drug addiction and petty crime to a life redeemed by a discovery of compassion.
Bright Lights, Big City
A disillusioned young writer living in New York City turns to drugs and drinking to block out the memories of his dead mother and estranged wife.
Chappaqua
Semi-autobiographical story of Conrad Rooks, who travels to France to undergo a drug-withdrawal cure. Flashbacks to the beginings of psychedelia in San Fran. Though initially confusing, as Rooks blends drug-illusion with reality, and cuts color with black-and-white and monochrome tinted shots, "Chappaqua" is conventionally constructed with a beginning, middle, and end.
Come Fill The Cup
Alcoholic newspaperman Lew Marsh hits bottom, loses his job and is rehabilitated by Charley Dolan. After six years on the wagon he gets his job back and devotes himself to other recovering alcoholics.
Adaptation.
Nicolas Cage is Charlie Kaufman, a confused L.A. screenwriter overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy, sexual frustration, self-loathing, and by the screenwriting ambitions of his freeloading twin brother Donald. While struggling to adapt "The Orchid Thief," by Susan Orlean, Kaufman's life spins from pathetic to bizarre. The lives of Kaufman, Orlean's book, become strangely intertwined as each one's search for passion collides with the others'.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo drive a red convertible across the Mojave desert to Las Vegas with a suitcase full of drugs to cover a motorcycle race. As their consumption of drugs increases at an alarming rate, the stoned duo trash their hotel room and fear legal repercussions. Duke begins to drive back to L.A., but after an odd run-in with a cop, he returns to Sin City and continues his wild drug binge.
Creature from the Haunted Sea
A crook decides to bump off members of his inept crew and blame their deaths on a legendary sea creature. What he doesn't know is that the creature is real.
The Front Page
A journalist suffering from burn-out wants to finally say goodbye to his office – but his boss doesn’t like the idea one bit.
Death of a Dynasty
A story which centers around Dave Katz, a journalist at a hip-hop magazine who is sent on assignment to uncover the often comedic underworld of Roc-a-Fella Records run by Damon Dash and Jay-Z.
Deconstructing Harry
This film tells the story of a successful writer called Harry Block, played by Allen himself, who draws inspiration from people he knows in real-life, and from events that happened to him, sometimes causing these people to become alienated from him as a result.
Thank You for Smoking
Nick Naylor is a charismatic spin-doctor for Big Tobacco who'll fight to protect America's right to smoke -- even if it kills him -- while still remaining a role model for his 12-year old son. When he incurs the wrath of a senator bent on snuffing out cigarettes, Nick's powers of "filtering the truth" will be put to the test.
Factotum
This drama centers on Hank Chinaski, the fictional alter-ego of "Factotum" author Charles Bukowski, who wanders around Los Angeles, CA trying to live off jobs which don't interfere with his primary interest, which is writing. Along the way, he fends off the distractions offered by women, drinking and gambling.
Shakes the Clown
Shakes plods about his duties as party clown, and uses all of his free time getting seriously drunk. Binky, another clown, wins the spot on a local kiddie show, which depresses Shakes even more, and his boss threatens him with unemployment if he can't get his act under control.
Last Woman on Earth
Harold Gern, a shady businessman from New York, is spending a holiday in Puerto Rico with his attractive wife Evelyn. They are joined by Martin Joyce, Harold's lawyer, who has come to discuss the latest indictment. Harold invites him along on a boat trip during which all three try out some newly bought scuba diving equipment. When they resurface, they find out that the world has changed forever.
Living in Oblivion
Nick is the director of a low-budget indie film. He tries to keep everything together as his production is plagued with an insecure actress, a megalomaniac star, a pretentious, beret-wearing director of photography, and lousy catering.
Mistress
A comedy about a screenwriter (Wuhl) whose old movie script is read by a producer (Landau) and the search for financial backers begins. But it seems that each money source (Aiello, DeNiro, Wallach) has his own mistress that he wants put into the film. Gradually, the screenwriter is forced to make changes to his script to accommodate these backers until he finally sees no semblance of his original ideas in the writing.
Mudhoney
In this Depression-era tale, Calef is traveling from Michigan to California and stops in Spooner, Missouri, where Lute hires him for odd jobs. Calef gets involved with Lute's niece, Hannah. But she is married to Sidney, a wife-beating drunk who hopes to inherit his uncle-in-law's money. Sidney and an eccentric preacher plot against Calef, who finds it difficult to conceal his mysterious past and his growing affection for Sidney's wife.
Postcards from the Edge
Substance-addicted Hollywood actress, Suzanne Vale is on the skids. After a spell at a detox centre her film company insists as a condition of continuing to employ her that she live with her mother, herself once a star and now a champion drinker. Such a set-up is bad news for Suzanne who has struggled for years to get out of her mother's shadow, and who still treats her like a child. Despite these and other problems, Suzanne begins to see the funny side of her situation, and also realises that not only do daughters have mothers—mothers do too.
Bank Robber
After robbing a bank, the robber hides out from the police in a seedy hotel where he is forced to bribe various tennants for protection as well as their silence which becomes more difficult as greed takes over and the people demand more exuberant bribes from the bank robber to shelter and hide him.
Still Smokin
Cheech & Chong are invited to a celebrity party in Amsterdam. When they get there, however, it turns out that the guy who invited them has taken off with all the money. They are actually expecting Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton, so our heroes get to be Mr. Burt and Mr. Dolly.
Trees Lounge
Tommy has lost his job, his love and his life. He lives in a small apartment above the Trees Lounge, a bar which he frequents along with a few other regulars without lives. He gets a job driving an ice cream truck and ends up getting involved with the seventeen-year-old niece of his ex-girlfriend. This gets him into serious trouble with her father.
Diary of a Nudist
Newspaper editor Arthur Sherwood is on a hunting trip when he accidentally stumbles upon a nudist camp in the woods. He is very much shocked by this and decides to send reporter Stacy Taylor to the camp so she can write an expose on the camp and have it shut down. However, much to her surprise, Stacy finds that she enjoys the nudist lifestyle and writes some very positive articles on her experiences, which doesn't sit well with Arthur. Arthur then decides to join the camp himself and write his own story.
Tropic Zone
A fugitive from the police helps a beautiful farmer run her struggling banana plantation.
Imprisoned
Dylan Burke attempts to move on from his former life as a criminal with his true love Maria. He soon realizes that his past will continue to haunt him, when he learns the new local prison warden, Daniel Calvin, has not forgiven him for an old crime.
Zombie Island Massacre
Americans on vacation in the Caribbean take a tour of a nearby island at night and watch a local voodoo ritual. Soon after, they find themselves stranded on the island and under attack by unseen foes. One by one they meet violent ends.