Denis Meikle’s whopping 528 page biography of superstar Johnny Depp covers the actors life from a small town Kentucky born son to a mega millionaire with his own private island with French supermodel/singer girlfriend Vanessa Paradis and their two children. The journey takes us through the many high’s and low’s of the actors career and personal life as well as offers up critiques for his many films and non-film related projects, such as his work at the very early stages of his life as a punk rocker with his band The Kids (which he still performs with). Picking up this biography will delve you deep into things you didn’t know about the actor, things you already knew (with a slightly more scrutinized depth), and things you could probably care less about.

The biography is quite literally a lot of things. It has aspects of critic review for Depp’s films and his performances therein, it has subtle political statements buried beneath it in accordance with world events scattered throughout Depp’s career, as well as an underlying core story about the tragedy of Hollywood from then till now. Meikle’s ability to traverse all these aspects and interconnect them without ever going off subject is somewhat of a double edged sword working as a master stroke as well as an unnecessary element. Still, in the grand scheme of things he manages to always take Depp’s story full circle, under lining characters that Depp would later embody that existed in a relatively small world in accordance with the stars own. Take for example the assassination of John F. Kennedy. This act provoked strong feelings in another Kentucky Native, Hunter S. Thompson, who would revise his original statement towards the act as being “Monstrous Stupidity” to two words, “Fear” and “Loathing”. It’s these little interconnecting points in history so in proximity of influence towards Depp’s upbringing as an individual that Meikle would make you a believer that there is such thing as fate.

The little details about Depp that probably have fallen through the cracks for even fans are what make the biography a bit of a page turner. For those who do not know the actor who helped get Depp’s foot through the door as far as acting is concerned, you will be surprised, and you’d do well to not take your chances on guessing because its so astronomically out there. For myself, having never subscribed to Depp as one of the must see film stars of, well any age, I found a bit more liking for Depp as a film star and a huge respect for an individual who lived “The Great Rock and Roll Swindle”, and who continues to do so to date, after reading this biography. Despite a lackluster start for Depp who landed very few success’s in his early career Meikle highlights the actors willingness to play small pivotal indie roles that catered to his sentimentality rather then for the check as the cause. Looking back, putting aside his turn as Edward Scissor Hands, Cry Baby, or Ed Wood, films that held no aesthetic interest for me, I seldom recall seeing Depp in much else (even his severely cut and brief appearance in Oliver Stone’s Platoon which I did see). The first film that Depp genuinely starred in that I saw was Nick of Time (I wouldn’t see Edward Scissor Hands until well into my twenties) followed by Donnie Brasco, which I didn’t care for and that once again put me off from the actor. I revisited Depp’s career over the years seeing films (on video) such as The Ninth Gate, The Astronauts Wife, and Chocolat all of which I quickly forgot. I was made a fan by his amazing portrayal of drug lord George Jung in 2001’s Blow but by then Depp would become the spectacle that he is now and a succession of films that cater more towards commercial success and, as Depp puts it later in the biography, of “selling out”. Was I simply too late?

The less commercial aspect of Depp’s career fascinated me. I have obtained a copy of Dead Man, which pits Depp in a western where he lives, dies (metaphorically), and is born again vindicated. It’s geared as art house but just the same it intrigued me enough to look for it. There is also The Brave, Depp’s directorial debut in which he plays a man who sells himself to a snuff film maker in order to grab enough funds to move his family out of poverty and obscurity. Unfortunately, according to Meikle’s account, the film failed to garner a U.S. release and I am unable to find a copy of it for viewing. In any regard it’s the depth in which Meikel not only covers these lesser known titles in Depp’s career as it is his description and passionate retelling of their core workings that gives credit to Depp as an artist who walked his own road as well as for the films themselves.  

The pivotal telling of the Hollywood tragedy within the core of the biography is without a doubt my favorite aspect of the book. Meikle takes Depp’s experimentations with drugs in his early life and slowly but subtly walks us through the actors transformation providing a backdrop of acquaintances whom lost their lives in the process of the hypocritical world of Hollywood that can neither distance itself from nor reject drug culture. The most shocking being that of Blow director Ted Demme, whose film gave insight into the world of drugs ending with the incarceration of its main character and the aftermath of losing everything, including his daughter who refuses to visit him. Demme died later at a celebrity basketball game of a fatal thrombotic heart attack which the coroner later stated may have been caused by a small amount of cocaine in his system, blow. Depp would stack characters deep in drug use over his career from George Jung to Hunter S. Thompson to Inspector Abberline but over his growth as an individual Depp slowly moved away from those elements in his real life and once he had children, fuhgetaboudit! Really, if you pick up this biography be sure to keep a close eye on the background relevance of Depp’s timeline.

Do I have many complaints about Meikle’s biography? Obviously the author has a certain vernacular penchant for words. Sometimes while reading through the book I almost had to stop and pick up a dictionary. It seemed to be overkill for the subject. Another issue is that there are times when Meikle turns rather from narrator to fan boy in which his idea of Depp crosses a certain line (see his review of Depp’s performance in Alice In Wonderland) but for a book so massive there has to be times when such liberties are to be forgiven. Lastly sometimes the use of concurrent events in accordance with politics or world events in regards to Depp’s own timeline tends to go beyond its use. The introduction of the biography, in which Meikle transcribes all about Kentucky history seems a bit drawn out. Other then that I applaud the author on making this not just a biography but something all together larger. As always final judgment is yours. Enjoy.