The Libertine (2004)

It is sheer coincidence that this film was on Sky late last night as I have been meaning to get around to the DVD for some time now.  Like much of the rest of the world, I am enchanted by Johnny Depp's versatility, and indeed were it not for him, this might be an unrewarding movie.  Set in the l7th Century, he plays the dissolute poet the Earl of Rochester who moves in and out of favour with King Charles II (a nearly unrecognizable John Malkovich).  In his monologue at the start, Depp says "You will not like me" and the rest of the film continues to show him as foul-mouthed and self-destructive.  Yet it is impossible not to like his performance which is brilliant, despite the horribly murky filmic style and the fact that you have never seen our Johnny look so horribly unhealthy and wasted -- and that is before his syphilitic turn towards the end when his nose is about to fall off!  Samantha Morton as an actress under his tutelage also gives a wonderful performance, but unless one is a Depp fan, I can understand many viewers hating this film for its look and its language.   It would be little compensation for them to be told that Johnny Vegas plays a mooning aristo -- now that is a strange piece of casting.