hunter thompson fear and loathing in las vegas

Visually, Fear and Loathing is a disaster. We note some Alex Cox influences, mainly in scenes of vomit and physical breakdown a la Sid & Nancy, which ring true but are entirely counter to the slap-happy rest of the film.

As befits a project with four credited screenwriters, the story shows its seams. Unfortunately, Terry Gilliam’s encapsulation is merely an uninspired series of stumblebum scenes as Depp and Del Toro crash and slide through the neon nether world of Las Vegas. (Remember that great scene where he had the Hispanic maids running around with the couch cushions simulating the Dallas Cowboys’ flex defense?) On a purely comic level, the film doesn’t even achieve the loopy hilarity of Where the Buffalo Roam, in which Bill Murray essayed the antic, gonzo journalist and every now and then captured his peculiar genius. In short, Fear and Loathing has been dummied down to a “Beer and Foaming” level - it’s merely a one-joke show as Depp and Benicio Del Toro, as the lawyer sidekick, careen from casino to casino. Unfortunately, in this lazy distillation, drunkenness and dislocation are the main focus and - even dopier - it’s played out as variety-show slapstick.ĭepp’s reeling performance as the addled, brilliant journalist recalls Red Skelton’s Clem Kadiddlehopper, when the popular comedian used to rubber-knee his way around stage with silly grins, flailing his arms to latch onto something. That his comments and insights were fired and fueled by every known form of illegal substance was part of his legend. As per his custom, he was accompanied by his lawyer, Oscar Zeta Acosta, an activist and fellow substance abuser along for moral and legal support.įor Thompson, Las Vegas was a vast moral, ethical pit - a microcosm of the warping of America - and his writings were less about the road race and more blunt broadsides against establishment culture. As celebrated and wasted as a lead guitarist, Thompson was known as much for his drug-gorging persona as his colorful, inflammatory writings.įor studio execs too wet-behind-the-ears to remember Thompson’s heyday, Fear and Loathing was based on Thompson’s excursion to Las Vegas, ostensibly to cover an off-road race for Sports Illustrated. Thompson, the era’s most flamboyant, outrageous journalist whose combative political pronouncements and incendiary volleys against the reigning establishment stoked countercultural fires then burning in college youth. In the slapstick cinematic, Johnny Depp stars as Dr. 'Star Wars: Return of the Jedi': THR's 1983 Review

Hunter thompson fear and loathing in las vegas