Private Resort

Johnny Depp’s starring debut, Private Resort follows two friends (Depp’s Jack and Rob Morrow’s Ben) as they arrive at a oceanfront retreat for a weekend of relaxation and debauchery – with the characters’ plans complicated by a whole host of unexpected confrontations and problems (including their ongoing efforts at avoiding Hector Elizondo’s sketchy, aggressive jewel thief). There’s little doubt that Private Resort fares best in its lighthearted and freewheeling first half, as filmmaker George Bowers, working from a screenplay by Gordon Mitchell, has infused the proceedings with a briskly-paced, affable feel that’s heightened by the charismatic work of its various actors – with Depp and Morrow’s engaging efforts mirrored by an eclectic supporting cast that includes Leslie Easterbrook, Michael Bowen, and Andrew Dice Clay. It’s clear, then, that Private Resort begins to lose its fairly tenuous grip on the viewer as it progresses into its pointedly plotless midsection, as the narrative, which is almost entirely lacking in forward momentum, takes an episodic approach to Jack and Ben’s many, many misadventures – with the whole thing climaxing with an oddly violent third act that features a machine-gun-toting maniac shooting up a crowded buffet (which is played for laughs!) The end result is a watchable yet pervasively erratic sex comedy that could certainly be much, much worse, and yet, given the uniformly amiable performances, Private Resort undoubtedly had the potential to rise above its terrible, similarly-themed brethren.

** out of ****